NEW YORK -- The Mets are down to zero left-handers in their bullpen.
Three days after placing A.J. Minter on the injured list with a lat strain that could cost him the rest of the season, the Mets sidelined Danny Young with a left elbow sprain. The move is retroactive to April 27, meaning Young will be eligible to return as soon as May 12. But there’s a possibility Young will need season-ending Tommy John surgery, according to manager Carlos Mendoza.
For now, Young stressed that the process is still “early.” He plans to receive medical opinions from other doctors before determining next steps.
"You never really want to assume the worst,” Young said. “It’s in the back of your mind, but it’s real early. Obviously, we’re going to try everything we can, and then we’ll see what happens.”
At the moment, the Mets have just one lefty reliever on their roster in Brandon Waddell, whose scoreless bulk relief performance on Wednesday was essentially a spot start. Waddell is likely to return to the Minors on Thursday.
Every other Mets reliever is right-handed, including veteran Chris Devenski, whom the team recalled earlier Wednesday to replace Young on the roster. But the Mets do have several options in the Minors who can help.
Most notably, left-hander Anthony Gose has pitched to a 2.61 ERA at Syracuse, holding same-sided hitters to a .482 OPS. Another veteran, Génesis Cabrera, pitched well in Spring Training but has struggled with wildness early in the Minor League season.
The Mets also recently finalized a one-year deal with Brooks Raley, their primary lefty reliever during the 2023 campaign. But Raley is recovering from Tommy John surgery, and the Mets transferred him to the 60-day injured list to clear 40-man roster space for Devenski. That means Raley won’t be an option until late June at the earliest.
Much will depend upon the severity of Young’s injury. The 30-year-old was a revelation last season for the Mets, who signed him as a Minor League free agent then watched him blossom into a useful specialist. He had been off to a shakier start this year but held a secure job in part because of Minter’s injury.
In recent weeks, Young began having trouble recovering between outings, which prompted him to go for an MRI on Wednesday morning. That test revealed a ligament sprain.
"I usually bounce back fine,” Young said. “It’s something that’s kind of abnormal for me. We’re just going to send it around, kind of see what we get from other doctors.”
Minter, who entered the season as the Mets’ primary left-handed bullpen option, is similarly weighing whether to undergo season-ending surgery on his strained left lat muscle. Even if Minter opts for a more conservative treatment method, he said he probably wouldn’t return until September. It’s possible, then, that the Mets will be without their top two lefty relievers for the balance of the season.
"That’s about as bad of timing as you can get, huh?” Young said. “It’s unfortunate.”