Mets’ Danny Young May Require Tommy John Surgery

Tommy John surgery is on the table for Mets reliever Danny Young, manager Carlos Mendoza told reporters (including Tim Healey of Newsday). The Mets placed the left-hander on the 15-day injured list this afternoon with an elbow sprain.

The team hasn’t made the final determination, but Young is in for an extended absence. An elbow sprain involves at least some degree of ligament stretching or tearing. The damage is sufficient enough that it may require surgical repair, though it stands to reason that Young will go for multiple opinions before making a decision of that magnitude. If he does go under the knife, he’d not only miss the rest of this season but the majority of next year as well.

Young signed a minor league deal with New York during the 2023-24 offseason. They selected his contract that April. He has held his 40-man roster spot since then. Young worked as an up-and-down reliever throughout the ’24 season. He worked to a 4.54 ERA over a career-high 37 2/3 big league frames. That was Young’s final option year. The Mets have needed to keep him in the big leagues this season. He’s pitched 10 times, allowing five runs (four earned) with a strong 13:3 strikeout-to-walk ratio. He’s collected four holds.

A.J. Minter and Young have been the only left-handers in Mendoza’s bullpen this season. Within the past few days, they’ve each not only gone on the injured list but are facing potential season-ending absences. Minter sustained a severe lat strain over the weekend and is weighing potential surgery himself. They re-signed Brooks Raley, but he’s multiple months away as he rehabs last May’s Tommy John procedure. The only healthy left-handed pitchers on New York’s 40-man roster are starter David Peterson and Brandon Waddell, who was called up today for spot work as a bulk arm behind an opener.

Anthony Gose and Génesis Cabrera are the only lefties on the Triple-A roster. Both pitchers are missing bats with scattershot command, which aligns with their overall track records. Gose has had more success in terms of run prevention, but neither is well suited for a leverage role. Even with Raley hopefully serving as a late-season reinforcement, lefty relief figures to be a target area for the Mets over the coming weeks. The handful of rebuilding clubs — the Rockies, White Sox and Marlins — don’t have much to offer in that regard, so an early-season trade of significance seems unlikely.

Regardless of whether he requires surgery or “only” needs an extended shutdown, Young will probably move to the 60-day injured list at some point. If he has surgery, the Mets may look to outright him off the 40-man roster at the beginning of the offseason.