The injury bug has reared it’s ugly head on the New York Mets’ elite bullpen.
As manager Carlos Mendoza told reporters on Tuesday, left-handed setup man A.J. Minter is dealing with a “pretty significant” lat injury and season-ending surgery is still on the table.
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“All we know right now is we’re dealing with a pretty significant injury here,” Mendoza said. “So he continues to talk to multiple people to see what we’ve got here, but the one thing we know is [it’s] pretty significant.”
Carlos Mendoza says A.J. Minter is dealing with a “pretty significant” lat injury and season-ending surgery is on the table pic.twitter.com/ziE5D8LyBA
The Mets are waiting for Minter to receive multiple opinions before making a decision on how to move forward. That said, Minter will be out for a substantial period of time, possibly for the rest of the season, which is a major blow to the Mets’ bullpen.
Minter was placed on the 15-day injured list on Sunday after being forced out of his relief outing early on Saturday after throwing just nine pitches. Initially, the southpaw was diagnosed with triceps tightness before it was discovered that he had a lat issue.
“I can’t remember what pitch it was, but about two pitches or a pitch before you can see me move my tricep a little bit, it tightened up,” Minter said to the media on Saturday. “I’m just glad it wasn’t my elbow. That’s what I was happy about. We’re probably looking at an IL stint. Come back, get this thing fixed and continue to help the team.”
The 31-year-old was the Mets’ top relief signing in the offseason, inking Minter to a two-year, $22 million deal. Minter and Ryne Stanek were the two main setup men to closer Edwin Diaz, but now the Mets will have to replace the lefty.
After rehabbing hip labrum surgery from last August, Minter was able to get himself ready for Opening Day. In 13 appearances, Minter had a 1.64 ERA for the Mets this season. That said, he will now be sidelined for quite sometime.
The silver lining in all this is that the Mets have an internal setup man replacement waiting in the minors in veteran Dedniel Núñez. The right-hander has been pitching for Triple-A Syracuse after a slow start to spring training as a result of his pronator strain rehab.
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Pat Ragazzo is the main publisher and reporter for the Mets On SI site. He has been covering the Mets since 2018. Pat was selected as The Top Reporter & Publisher of the Year 2024 by the International Association of Top Professionals (IAOTP) for outstanding leadership, dedication, and commitment to the industry. He has appeared on several major TV Networks including: NBC4, CBS2, FOX5, PIX11 and NY1; and is a recurring guest on ESPN New York 880 AM and WFAN Sports Radio 101.9 FM. Pat is also the Mets insider for Barstool Sports personality Frank “The Tank” Fleming’s podcast. You can follow him on Twitter/X and Instagram: @ragazzoreport.
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