Matt Harvey Avoids Injury Questions, Would Rather Talk About Sponsor in Awkward Interview (Video)

Maybe, just maybe, this is what Matt Harvey and one of his sponsors wanted. Maybe the plan all along was to just draw attention to the sponsor and have everyone saying that sponsor’s name all day long. It certainly is a great way to spread the word, especially with today’s media coverage.

But, more likely, it was just an awful radio interview that Harvey bombed.

The New York Mets pitcher is making the media rounds Wednesday, and his interview with The Dan Patrick Show won’t be the last he does Wednesday, but it might be the most memorable. The thing is, is that Harvey’s media tour, in which he gets to spread the word about this sponsor, comes a day after he revealed he wouldn’t be getting Tommy John surgery for a torn elbow ligament.

Naturally, baseball fans far and wide would love to hear more about that decision. However, that wasn’t in the cards, at least not in the deck Harvey was holding. Dan Patrick asked Harvey about the arm issue, and Harvey answered somewhat, but he was also insistent that he had already talked about the decision Tuesday. That’s when he quickly changed gears and made it clear that Wednesday was all about talking about his sponsor’s product. Patrick pressed a little bit more about the injury and the decision. Harvey then said he’d talk about it in the future as well.

The interview crumbled from there — Patrick should be commended for his professionalism while allowing to Harvey further pitch this product — before the talk came to an abrupt end.

“That was bad. That was bad,” Patrick said after the interview. “And I wasted people’s time there.”

The mess of an interview quickly hit the Internet, and word of mouth took over. So while Harvey doesn’t look great in wake of the awkward encounter, that sponsor is having its named bandied about the Internet now. And isn’t that really the point?

See and hear the interview below.