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Frankie Montas

Frankie Montas To Undergo UCL Surgery

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Mets right-hander Frankie Montas has a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his elbow and will require surgery, reports Jon Heyman of The New York Post. It seems unclear exactly what kind of surgery Montas will require but Heyman says it will “very likely” be a full Tommy John, which would wipe out his entire 2026 season. Even a lesser surgery such as an internal brace procedure would put him on the shelf for most of next season.

The news doesn’t come out of nowhere. Montas was placed on the 15-day injured list a few days ago with a UCL injury. Manager Carlos Mendoza described it as “pretty significant” and said Montas would not be returning in 2025. The news of the surgery has more of an impact on 2026, which could go down as a lost season for Montas. A full Tommy John surgery generally requires 14-plus months of rehab. The internal brace alternative can sometimes allow a player to come back around a year later, though even that is a rare outcome.

Time will tell what 2026 has in store for Montas. Either way, his signing is officially a regrettable one for the Mets. Coming into 2025, they gave him a two-year, $34MM guarantee with $17MM salaries in each year and an opt-out after the first season. He suffered a lat strain in February and didn’t make it back to a big league mound until late June. He posted a 6.68 earned run average in seven starts and got moved to the bullpen. After two relief outings, he landed on the IL.

Montas will certainly forego his opt-out chance and keep that $17MM salary on the Mets’ books for next year. For their $34MM investment, they have so far received 38 2/3 innings with a 6.28 ERA. There’s a chance he returns late in 2026 but only for a few outings even in a best-case scenario.

The news doesn’t impact 2025. As mentioned, Montas had already been bumped to the bullpen even before being ruled out for the rest of the year. This means the club won’t be planning on him contributing in 2026 either. Thankfully, next year’s on-paper rotation looks a lot like the current group. Kodai Senga, Sean Manaea, Clay Holmes and David Peterson will all be back next year. Senga’s deal has a post-2025 opt-out but it’s conditional on him pitching 400 innings over the 2023-25 seasons. Since he missed most of last year, he’s only at 280 1/3 and won’t vest that opt-out.

In addition to those four, the Mets are turning to prospects Nolan McLean and Jonah Tong late this year. Either or both could be candidates for next year’s rotation. The same is true of Brandon Sproat, who is in Triple-A. Tylor Megill is currently on the IL but can be retained for 2026 via arbitration. Christian Scott has UCL surgery late in 2024 and could be back in the mix next year.

While it’s not ideal for the Mets to be paying $17MM plus taxes to a pitcher who is out of action, he had seemingly fallen out of their plans regardless. They have plenty of other pitchers and one of the top payrolls in the league, so they can absorb this hit better than most.

For Montas personally, he will eventually return to the open market ahead of the 2027 season, which will be his age-34 campaign. He missed most of 2023 recovering from shoulder surgery, so he won’t have a lot of momentum going into that return to free agency. He will be coming off a four-year stretch from 2023 to 2026 where he was only healthy in 2024 and had a 4.84 ERA that year.

Photo courtesy of Brad Penner, Imagn Images

Mets Place Reed Garrett On IL Due To Elbow Inflammation

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The Mets announced today that right-hander Reed Garrett has been placed on the 15-day injured list due to right elbow inflammation, retroactive to August 23rd. They have selected left-hander José Castillo to take Garrett’s place on the active roster. Righty Frankie Montas has been transferred to the 60-day IL to open a 40-man spot.

Garrett, 32, has been a key part of the Mets bullpen for about two years now. He broke out with a strong performance in 2024, tossing 57 1/3 innings with a 3.77 earned run average. His 12.1% walk rate was high but he struck out 33.6% of batters faced and got grounders on 44.3% of balls in play. He moved up the club’s pecking order, earning four saves and 14 holds.

He has largely kept that kind of performance going here in 2025. He has thrown another 52 1/3 innings with a 3.61 ERA, 28.3% strikeout rate, 11% walk rate and 39.1% ground ball rate. He has added another three saves and 20 more holds.

To this point, the Mets haven’t provided any details about his injury or how long they expect him to be out of action, but it’s a concerning development regardless. It’s always somewhat worrisome when a pitcher’s throwing elbow isn’t 100%. For the Mets, they have been hit hard by the injury bug this year, with a number of relievers requiring season-ending surgeries in the first half. The club bolstered the group ahead of the deadline by acquiring Ryan Helsley, Tyler Rogers and Gregory Soto.

Despite adding those reinforcements, the club has been struggling this summer. They have gone 7-14 in the month of August and are barely clinging to a playoff spot. They are holding the third and final Wild Card slot in the National League but are just 1.5 games ahead of the Reds.

Part of that is due to Garrett himself. He had a 2.87 ERA in the first half but that has been up to 5.52 so far in the second half. A lot of that seems to be luck. He had a 25.5% strikeout rate and 12.4% walk rate in the first half, with those figures improving to 36.2% and 6.9% respectively in the second half. However, his strand rate went from a fairly average 74.2% to 51% while his home run to fly ball rate went from 5.9% to 27.3%. Though his ERA almost doubled in the second half, his FIP had a far more modest jump from 3.22 to 3.73 while his SIERA actually made a significant improvement, going from 3.92 to 2.16.

Even if the recent struggles aren’t entirely due to misfortunate, the Mets surely don’t want to be losing more pitchers to the injured list, especially after the deadline when it’s harder to find external solutions. For Garrett personally, it’s also less than ideal as he’s just about to qualify for arbitration for the first time.

For now, the Mets will add Castillo to the roster. He started the season with the Diamondbacks but was designated for assignment in May. The Mets sent some cash to Arizona to bring him aboard. Since then, he has bounced on and off the roster. They have twice designated him for assignment and sent him through waivers. Each time, he has accepted an assignment to Triple-A Syracuse and later been added back to the roster.

Overall, he has thrown 18 2/3 innings in the big leagues this year with a 5.30 ERA. His 21.5% strikeout rate and 9.7% walk rate have been close to average. His 53.3% ground ball rate is quite good but perhaps a lot of those grounders have found holes, as his .421 batting average on balls in play is quite high. His 3.76 SIERA suggests he has deserved far better than the ERA would indicate. He has also thrown 16 Triple-A innings this year with a 1.69 ERA, 35.9% strikeout rate, 9.4% walk rate and 50% ground ball rate. He is out of options, which has contributed to his many roster moves this year, so it’s possible his grip on a spot will again be tenuous this time around.

As for Montas, his transfer to the 60-day IL is not a surprise. It was reported a few days ago that he has a “pretty significant” injury to the ulnar collateral ligament in his elbow. It’s unclear how his 2026 will be impacted but he won’t return in 2025, so this move was inevitable.

Photo courtesy of Brad Penner, Imagn Images

Frankie Montas Done For 2025 Due To “Pretty Significant” UCL Injury

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4:13pm: Manager Carlos Mendoza told reporters (including Mike Puma of the New York Post) that Montas’s UCL injury is “pretty significant.” Mendoza went on to confirm that Montas will not pitch again in 2025.

2:21pm: The Mets announced that Frankie Montas has been placed on the 15-day injured list (retroactive to August 22) due to a UCL-related injury in his right elbow.  Right-hander Huascar Brazoban has been called up from Triple-A to take Montas’ spot on the active roster.

It’s the latest setback in what was been a brutal inaugural season for Montas in Queens. The right-hander signed a $34MM guarantee with the Mets during the winter but has produced just 38 2/3 innings of work for the team so far. A lat strain suffered at the outset of Spring Training left Montas to open the season on the injured list and he did not make his season debut until June 24. After throwing five scoreless innings in his first start of the year, Montas pitched to a ghastly 7.85 ERA over his next six starts with an 18.2% strikeout rate and a whopping seven home runs allowed. Those brutal results led the Mets to move Montas to the bullpen earlier this month, where he’s surrendered four runs (two earned) on four walks and six hits (including a home run) while striking out just three.

Altogether, Montas has posted a 6.28 ERA and a 5.31 FIP during his time with the Mets with an 18.0% strikeout rate and a 7.9% walk rate. It’s a deeply disappointing outcome, and now it’s an open question when Montas will next be available to pitch. The Mets have made no announcements about the right-hander’s timeline for return, nor offered any indications about the severity of the injury. Of course, many fans will wonder about the possibility of Tommy John surgery, which is often required to repair a pitcher’s UCL once damaged. Such a procedure (or even a less-invasive internal brace procedure) would likely cost Montas not only the remainder of this year but also the entire 2026 season. With that being said, some UCL injuries are possible to address via rehab. That’s a path that Braves hurler Grant Holmes opted to take earlier this month as he deals with a partial UCL tear, though even Holmes’s rehab process has brought his 2025 campaign to an abrupt end.

While the details of Montas’s prognosis and timeline for return won’t be clear until the Mets make an announcement offering more information, the club will be without the right-hander for at least the immediate future. Given the fact that Montas’s performance was poor enough that he was bumped from the rotation earlier this month, perhaps that’s not too massive of a blow. Sean Manaea, Kodai Senga, David Peterson, and Clay Holmes remain in the club’s rotation and have recently been joined by top prospect Nolan McLean. Brandon Waddell and Justin Hagenman remain in the minors already on the 40-man roster as potential depth options behind that group, and well-regarded prospect Brandon Sproat has a 4.24 ERA in 24 starts at Triple-A this year.

Replacing Montas on the roster is Brazoban, who began his career in the majors with Miami back in 2022 but has served as an up-and-down relief arm for the Mets this year. It’s a role he’s performed quite well in, with a 3.83 ERA and 4.14 FIP across 51 2/3 innings of work spread between 3 starts and 41 relief outings. Brazoban figures to take up Montas’s mantle as the club’s long reliever going forward.

Mets To Promote Nolan McLean

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The Mets will call up top pitching prospect Nolan McLean to make his MLB debut this Saturday, reports SNY’s Andy Martino. He’ll step into the rotation spot vacated by Frankie Montas’ move to the bullpen. Jon Heyman of the New York Post reported earlier this morning that righty Paul Blackburn was also headed to the bullpen when he’s ready to be reinstated from the injured list, setting the stage for either McLean or fellow prospect Brandon Sproat to make his debut.

As we noted yesterday when the Mets moved Montas to the ’pen, the Saturday start aligns far better with McLean’s turn in the Triple-A rotation than with that of Sproat. McLean has also simply outpitched Sproat this season, though both well-regarded prospects have excelled recently.

The timing of the move likely isn’t a coincidence. Saturday marks the first day on the calendar where there’s not enough time remaining for players to accrue enough service to exhaust their rookie eligibility. By waiting until Saturday to promote McLean, the Mets have ensured that he’ll still qualify as a rookie next season and therefore still be able to earn the Mets potential future draft picks via the league’s Prospect Promotion Incentive (PPI) program. In all likelihood, McLean is just one of several top prospects around the league who’ll be promoted after Aug. 15.

McLean, 24, was the Mets’ third-round pick in 2023. He’s rated as one of the system’s more promising young arms since that selection, but his stock has exploded in 2025 as he’s ripped through Double-A and Triple-A lineups. McLean has pitched a combined 113 2/3 innings between those two levels and compiled a tidy 2.45 ERA while punching out 27.2% of his opponents. His 10.7% walk rate is still too high, but his huge 54.7% ground-ball rate can help to erase a few of those free passes by way of the double-play ball.

This year’s terrific run has not only vaulted McLean toward the top of the Mets’ in-house prospect lists — it’s made him a consensus top-100 prospect in the sport. He sits 37th among all big league prospects at MLB.com, 40th at Baseball America and 53rd at FanGraphs on each outlet’s post-deadline reranking of the sport’s top young talents.

The 6’2″, 215-pound McLean is an Oklahoma State product whose athleticism draws plenty of praise. He was a two-sport star in high school, playing both baseball and football, and he was a two-way player at OSU, where he was a third baseman and outfielder in addition to his work on the mound. He’s since dialed in only on pitching and experienced an uptick in velocity, now sitting 95 mph with a four-seamer that can climb to 98 mph when he needs to reach back for a bit extra. MLB.com’s report on McLean calls his sweeper a “monster” of a pitch with “elite” spin rate. He’s sitting 85.5 mph with that pitch and also mixing in a sinker, cutter and seldom-used changeup.

Because McLean will retain rookie eligibility going into next year, he could earn the Mets a draft pick down the line. If McLean were to win National League Rookie of the Year or finish top-three in NL MVP voting next season, the Mets would gain that pick. Even if McLean doesn’t hit either of those goals, the fact that he’ll be a top-100 prospect who accrued a full year of service as a rookie opens a three-year window for him to net the Mets a compensatory pick based on award voting. If McLean were to land any top-three finish in Cy Young or MVP voting before reaching arbitration, the Mets would still gain a pick. Players can only net their team one pick under the league’s PPI program, but the timing of his promotion means McLean could do so at any point from 2026-28.

Setting aside the PPI aspect of the promotion, McLean’s promotion comes at a time when he cannot accrue a year of service this season. He’ll be controllable for at least six full years beyond the current campaign — potentially more than that, depending on whether he’s optioned at any point in the future. The earliest he could become a free agent would be after the 2031 season, and the earliest McLean could qualify for arbitration would be following the 2028 season.

Mets Move Frankie Montas To Bullpen

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The Mets will move struggling right-hander Frankie Montas from the rotation to the bullpen, manager Carlos Mendoza announced Tuesday (link via Anthony DiComo of MLB.com). The team has not yet announced who will start in place of Montas on Saturday. The Mets have righty Paul Blackburn on a minor league rehab assignment, but Mendoza indicated that Blackburn will make at least one more rehab appearance and is not an option to step into Montas’ rotation spot this weekend.

Notably, Saturday is the first day that prospects can be promoted to the major leagues but still fall shy of the requisite 45 days on the active roster that exhausts a player’s rookie status. In other words, beginning Saturday, the Mets will be able to turn to a top prospect like Nolan McLean or Brandon Sproat without burning either pitcher’s rookie eligibility. That’s key for teams with top-100 prospects, as promoting those prospects early in the 2026 season can then net the teams a compensatory draft pick, based on Rookie of the Year voting.

It’s been a miserable season for the veteran Montas, who inked a surprisingly strong two-year, $34MM contract with an opt-out provision over the winter. That opt-out is a moot point by now, with the 32-year-old righty being relegated to bullpen work after logging a 6.38 ERA in his first eight appearances of the year (36 2/3 innings).

Montas began the season on the injured list due to a lat strain and didn’t pitch in the majors until late June. He’s allowed four or more earned runs in four of seven starts and has yet to complete six innings in an outing. Setting aside a solid season debut in which he tossed five shutout frames, Montas has been clobbered for a 7.39 ERA and yielded an average of 2.27 homers per nine innings pitched in six starts and one three-inning relief appearance (his most recent outing).

It appears that Montas won’t get the opportunity to improve on that rotation performance anytime soon. It’s difficult to fathom a scenario where he’d turn down the $17MM player option he’s facing at season’s end, so it’s in the Mets’ best interest to get him back on track, but their recent play doesn’t afford them the luxury of keeping a struggling veteran in the rotation while he tries to sort things out.

The freefalling Mets, who’ve lost seven in a row, currently have Kodai Senga, Sean Manaea, Clay Holmes and David Peterson in the rotation. Sproat and McLean stand as the two most logical replacements. (Fellow top prospect Jonah Tong was only just promoted to Triple-A and has yet to throw a pitch there.) Sproat last pitched Aug. 7 and would be on eight days’ rest, whereas McLean pitched on the 10th. Based on their current schedules, McLean seems like the more straightforward option, and he’s pitched more effectively this season anyhow.

Mets Reinstate Frankie Montas, Transfer Jesse Winker To 60-Day IL

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The Mets announced that right-hander Frankie Montas has been reinstated from the 60-day injured list. Right-hander Chris Devenski was optioned to Triple-A Syracuse as the corresponding active roster move. He has enough service time where he can’t be optioned without his consent, so he has presumably agreed to be sent down. To open a 40-man spot for Montas, outfielder/designated hitter Jesse Winker has been transferred to the 60-day IL.

Montas, 32, will be making his debut as a Met when he starts tonight’s game. At the moment, it’s difficult to guess what sort of quality of performance he’ll be able to provide. He was diagnosed with a lat strain back in mid-February. He started a rehab assignment in late May but hasn’t looked sharp, allowing 25 earned runs in 18 2/3 innings over six minor league starts.

Teams generally care more about health than results on a rehab assignment but a 12.05 earned run average is going to cause some concern. It would be one thing if Montas started rough and had been getting sharper but that hasn’t been the case. He surrendered five earned runs in five innings in his most recent outing, with just two strikeouts. The prior outing had seen him allow eight earned runs without getting out of the second inning.

Even before this year, there were question marks with Montas. He had missed almost all of 2023 due to shoulder surgery. Back on the mound in 2024, his 4.84 ERA wasn’t strong. The Mets seemed to be banking on his late-season strikeout surge. He had struck out just 19% of batters faced with the Reds but then 28.7% of opponents following a trade to the Brewers. He then headed into free agency and secured a two-year, $34MM deal from the Mets, with equal salaries of $17MM and an opt-out halfway through.

That was a notable investment in a pitcher who hadn’t been at his best in a few years. The Mets are also paying a 110% tax on spending beyond the top competitive balance tax threshold this year, making it an even more significant expenditure which they have yet to receive any return on.

Despite that cash outlay, the righty’s recent struggles on his rehab assignment almost pushed him to the bullpen. However, the club’s rotation picture changed quickly in recent weeks. Not too long ago, it seemed the club had so much rotation depth that a Paul Blackburn trade was reportedly considered. But then both Kodai Senga and Tylor Megill hit the injured list in the span of a few days, opening rotation space for both Blackburn and Montas alongside David Peterson, Clay Holmes and Griffin Canning.

If everyone is healthy, another squeeze could be just over the horizon. Sean Manaea is also on the IL and just a bit behind Montas in his rehab process. He recently made his fourth rehab appearance, getting to 62 pitches over 5 1/3 innings. Montas is getting a rotation spot for now due to the club’s need and the fact that his 30-day rehab window was closing but there will be pressure on him to perform in order to keep that spot.

As for Winker, he landed on the IL on May 5th due to a right oblique strain. His 60-day count is retroactive to that initial IL placement, so he’ll be eligible for reinstatement in early July. He was initially given a recovery timeline of six to eight weeks but the Mets recently said that he is still multiple weeks away from starting a rehab assignment.

Photo courtesy of Sam Navarro, Imagn Images

Latest On Mets’ Rotation Plans

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The Mets’ season-worst losing streak stretched to six games with tonight’s 7-1 defeat in Atlanta. Clay Holmes was unable to escape the fifth inning, and the Mets turned to righty Justin Hagenman to work the final 2 2/3 frames in mop-up fashion. Hagenman had been the likeliest choice to start tomorrow’s series opener against the Phillies, necessitating a change of plans.

As first reported by Anthony DiComo of MLB.com, New York will now turn to Blade Tidwell opposite Zack Wheeler. They’ll need to recall the 6’4″ righty tomorrow afternoon. It’ll be the second MLB appearance of his career. The Mets called up the former second-round pick for a spot start against the Cardinals on May 4. He gave up six runs in 3 2/3 innings to take the loss and was optioned back to Triple-A Syracuse the next day. Tidwell, one of the better pitching prospects in the organization, has worked 62 1/3 innings over 13 Triple-A appearances this season. He carries a 4.76 ERA but has punched out nearly 28% of opponents against a 9.5% walk rate.

This is likely to again be a one-off appearance. Frankie Montas has been on a minor league rehab assignment since May 24. Pitchers can spend up to 30 days on a rehab stint before they need to be activated (unless they suffer an injury setback). Montas’ rehab window closes on Monday, at which point the Mets need to put him on the MLB roster.

Manager Carlos Mendoza confirmed before Thursday’s game that Montas will be in the rotation (link via Tim Britton of The Athletic). That wouldn’t have seemed in doubt at the beginning of the rehab stint. The Mets signed Montas to a two-year, $34MM free agent deal. He would’ve opened the season in the middle of the rotation had he not suffered a significant lat strain early in Spring Training. The results on his rehab stint have been dreadful, however.

Montas has allowed more than 12 earned runs per nine innings over six rehab starts: two in High-A, four in Triple-A. Teams generally don’t place much stock in a player’s stats while he’s rehabbing. The primary focus is on getting healthy. Yet Montas’ struggles have been so significant that the Mets must be at least a little concerned. He has allowed more than a run per inning in three of his four Triple-A outings. Opponents have combined for a staggering eight home runs in 14 1/3 innings. He gave up five runs on seven hits (including one homer) while striking out only two of 23 batters faced against Miami’s top farm team on Wednesday.

The results certainly don’t suggest he’s ready to face MLB hitters, but the Mets are out of time on the rehab stint. There was some thought that they could activate Montas as a reliever, at least allowing Mendoza to deploy him in low-leverage situations as he tries to iron out his mechanics. That might have been the plan had they not lost Kodai Senga and Tylor Megill to the injured list within the past week. “Look, we need starters here,” Mendoza acknowledged to reporters. “We signed him to be a starter for this team, and we’re going to give him a chance.” That likely positions Montas to make his team debut early next week when the Mets welcome the Braves to Citi Field.

It was just eight days ago that the Mets were reportedly receiving interest in Paul Blackburn because it was unclear if they’d have room for him as a starting pitcher. New York had pushed their lead in the NL East to a season-best 5.5 games that same afternoon. Now, they’re tied with the Phillies as they head into this weekend’s series at Citizens Bank Park. Blackburn looks like a short-term rotation fixture behind Holmes, David Peterson and Griffin Canning. Montas will slot into the fifth spot after getting bombed by minor league lineups.

While things have gone downhill quickly, there’s more cause for optimism in the medium term. Sean Manaea, who has been out all season due to a Spring Training oblique strain, has been on a rehab assignment since June 6. His numbers are also poor, but that’s not as concerning when a pitcher is shaking off the rust very early in a rehab stint. He’s around two weeks away from an MLB return. Senga has a low-grade hamstring strain. He could resume throwing by the end of the month and return in mid-July if all goes well. The news on Megill is less encouraging, as he’ll miss at least 4-5 weeks with an elbow sprain.

The front office will have a little more than five weeks to see how their injured pitchers progress and gauge what they can get out of Montas before deciding on trade deadline priorities. Jon Heyman of The New York Post wrote this evening that they’re likely to be involved in the rotation market once July 31 approaches. That’s true of almost all contending teams, of course. The next month will go a long way to determining their sense of urgency to add a starting pitcher.

Mets Place Tylor Megill On IL With Elbow Sprain

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4:25pm: Manager Carlos Mendoza tells Anthony DiComo of MLB.com that the best-case scenario for Megill is a return in four to five weeks. The club plans to have a spot starter on Friday and Montas perhaps joining the rotation after that, depending on how his next rehab outing goes.

3:05pm: The Mets announced that right-hander Tylor Megill has been placed on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to June 15th, due to a right elbow sprain. Fellow righty Justin Garza has been recalled in a corresponding move.

Megill told members of the media, including Laura Albanese of Newsday, that he just has inflammation and no ligament damage. That doesn’t fully align with the official announcement, as a sprain involves some degree of stretching or tearing, by definition. Regardless, it seems like Megill doesn’t expect a lengthy absence. He says he’ll be shut down for seven to ten days before being reevaluated.

Assuming that ends up being the case, that would obviously be good news, as he was on the road to having a personal-best season here in 2025. He has largely been a serviceable back-end starter for the Mets, with a 4.56 earned run average coming into the campaign. This year, prior to this IL stint, he has made 14 starts with a 3.95 ERA. His 10.8% walk rate would be higher than any other season in his career, but barely. Meanwhile, his 29.2% strikeout rate is quite strong and is way ahead of his 24.3% career rate.

He qualified for arbitration for the first time in the most recent offseason and is making $1.975MM this year. He will be due a raise this coming winter but a notable absence would obviously cut into his earning power, so he’ll naturally be hoping to bounce back quickly.

For the Mets, this is the latest domino to fall in a quickly-changing rotation picture. Last week, it was reported that the Mets were getting calls on righty Paul Blackburn, on account of a fairly crowded starting mix. But within minutes of that report coming out, Kodai Senga suffered an injury and was later placed on the 15-day IL due a strained hamstring.

In the modern game, any pitching surplus is a temporary thing, which is clearly demonstrated here. The Mets are now down to David Peterson, Clay Holmes, Griffin Canning and Blackburn as their rotation options. Frankie Montas has been on a path to join that group but his rehab assignment has been shaky. He has been on the IL all year due to a lat strain and has a 13.17 ERA over his five rehab outings. In the most recent one, he allowed eight earned runs without getting out of the second inning.

Due to those struggles, there’s been some speculation that the Mets might push Montas into the bullpen, though the Megill injury might make him more needed in the rotation. On the other hand, Sean Manaea is also on a rehab assignment and should be in the mix soon as well. His rehab assignment also hasn’t gone super well so far in terms of results, but he’s earlier in the process, having only made three appearances thus far.

Time will tell how the Mets play it. Peterson, Blackburn and Holmes are the scheduled starters for the next three games. Megill was originally scheduled to get the ball on Friday. Canning could perhaps start that one instead but they would still need to someone for Saturday’s game. Guys like Blade Tidwell, Justin Hagenman and Brandon Waddell are on the 40-man roster and could factor in at some point, at least until the Mets get some guys back from the IL.

It will be a situation worth monitoring for other clubs, especially with the trade deadline just over a month away. As recently as a week ago, the Mets looked to have enough starting options where selling was a possibility but perhaps buying will become a consideration.

Photo courtesy of Gary A. Vasquez, Imagn Images

Mets Notes: Siri, Winker, Senga, Montas, Raley

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Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns and manager Carlos Mendoza each provided several injury updates when speaking with reporters (including Newsday’s Laura Albanese, The Athletic’s Tim Britton, and the New York Post’s Mike Puma) on Friday.  The most unwelcome bit of news concerned Jose Siri, whose recovery from a left tibia fracture will be delayed since tests showed the tibia hadn’t healed as well as expected over two months since the initial injury.

Siri last played on April 12, when he fouled a ball off his left leg during his first plate appearance in the Mets’ 3-1 loss to the Athletics.  The initial recovery timeline was set at 8-10 weeks, though in the wake of this latest setback, Siri will now be shut down from baseball activities for a few more weeks until he undergoes a fresh round of imaging tests.

Even if those tests reveal better results, Siri will need to ramp his rehab back up and play in multiple minor league games, so it may be optimistic to expect Siri back on New York’s big league roster before July is over.  It’s a frustrating setback for Siri, who seemed to be making progress by taking part in live batting practice sessions and doing some running drills in recent weeks.  Instead, it now looks like he’ll miss over half of the season on the injured list, leaving the Mets without a key member of their outfield.

Acquired from the Rays in a trade last November, Siri was meant to add some power and (most pressingly) defensive stability to the Amazins’ center field mix.  His absence has made Tyrone Taylor more or less the everyday center fielder, and while Taylor has held his own with the glove, he is hitting only .234/.300/.332 over 205 plate appearances.  The left-handed hitting Jeff McNeil has been spelling Taylor in center field when McNeil isn’t at second base, and Jose Azocar, Brandon Nimmo, and Luisangel Acuna have made a few cameos in center when the situation has warranted.

It was already expected that the Mets would be looking for some outfield help at the trade deadline, and the possibility that Siri might not even be back by July 31 only underlines the outfield as a target area.  Perhaps if the Mets are okay with the Taylor/McNeil platoon in center field, the club might just look to add a bat in general to help out in the infield or in the DH position.  Designated hitter Jesse Winker is recovering from a Grade 2 oblique strain that has kept him out since early May, and Stearns said that Winker will still need multiple weeks before a minor league rehab assignment is considered.

Kodai Senga’s hamstring strain created a big hole in New York’s rotation this week, though Mendoza said tests revealed that Senga had only a Grade 1 strain, or the least severe variety.  The current plan is for Senga to be shut down for two weeks and then the club will explore plans for a throwing progression and a minor league rehab assignment.  Given the timing, it seems possible Senga might be able to pitch again before the All-Star break, but in all likelihood the Mets will play it safe with their ace and hold him out through the break to give him a few more days of rest.

The Mets’ rotation has been plagued by injuries ever since Spring Training, yet the staff has greatly exceeded expectations by still leading all of baseball with a 2.78 rotation ERA.  Senga’s 1.47 ERA over 73 2/3 innings has been a big part of that success, as the right-hander has returned in top form after missing virtually all of the 2024 season.

Paul Blackburn will move from a long relief/swingman role into the rotation to fill in for Senga, while Britton suggests that Frankie Montas might move into the bullpen in Blackburn’s role (rather than into a starting job) when Montas is activated from the 60-day injured list.  After missing the entire season due to a lat strain, Montas has made five minor league rehab starts, and June 22 will mark the end of the allotted 30 days for Montas’ rehab assignment.

While in-game results are usually less important than fitness and mechanics during these rehab outings, Montas’ 13.17 ERA over 13 2/3 innings with high-A Brooklyn and Triple-A Syracuse is hard to ignore, as the veteran righty is clearly still not on track.  Stearns said that Montas will make one more start in the minors, and that Montas “is still searching a little bit” after such a long layoff.

“Physically, we are trending in the right direction and now it’s just getting him back into the rhythm,” Stearns said.  “This is very similar to a Spring Training ramp up where you try not to focus on results too much early and then as you get a little bit later in the ramp up you want to start seeing outs.  That is where Frankie is right now.”

In even longer-term injury news, Brooks Raley could be starting a rehab assignment within the next week.  Raley underwent a Tommy John surgery in May 2024, and with the knowledge that he’d miss most of the 2025 season, the Mets inked the veteran reliever to a one-year free agent deal that guarantees Raley $1.85MM ($1.5MM in 2025 salary, and a $300K buyout on a $4.75MM club option for 2026).

Several other performance bonuses are available both this season and next depending on how many appearances Raley can make, though the first order of business is simply getting the southpaw back in action.  Britton notes that Raley will likely need the full 30-day rehab window in order to get back into game shape, so if all goes well, Raley could be an option for the Mets’ bullpen before the end of July.

Mets Receiving Trade Interest In Paul Blackburn

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With several teams around the league straining to find rotation help, the Mets have been receiving early interest in righty Paul Blackburn, reports Joel Sherman of the New York Post. There’s no indication a trade is close, but there’s good reason to think the Mets might be amenable to an earlier-than-usual trade involving the veteran righty.

The Mets are currently six-deep in starters, with Blackburn the ostensible odd man out. Kodai Senga, David Peterson, Clay Holmes, Griffin Canning and Tylor Megill have all pitched well this season. All five have started at least a dozen games, and none has an ERA higher than Megill’s 3.76. Blacknburn’s most recent outing came in long relief, although Sherman notes that he could get a spot start or two with an upcoming run of 13 games in 13 days.

That said, both Frankie Montas and Sean Manaea are out on minor league rehab stints. The former has made four starts and built up to 76 pitches, while the latter tossed 46 pitches over 2 2/3 innings in his second rehab start two days ago. As such, Montas is the closer of the pair to returning and could even be ready to go next week. He’s slated to make his fifth rehab appearance tomorrow, but there’s still enough time left on his rehab clock that he could make two more starts if the team sees fit. Manaea’s rehab window extends into early July, as he only began his assignment on June 6.

One way or another, within the next two to three weeks, the Mets could find themselves with as many as seven or eight healthy rotation options. All are largely established as big league starting pitchers as well, so it’s not as though they have a young, optional arm to send back to Syracuse for a bit.

Peterson can technically still be optioned, but only for another five days. He’s on the cusp of reaching five years of MLB service time, at which point he’d have to consent to being sent down. It’s a moot point, though, given how well he’s pitching. Megill also has an option, but he’s bounced back from a run of shaky starts in early-to-mid May by rattling off 21 1/3 innings with a 3.80 ERA and 28-to-9 K/BB ratio. His season-long numbers are strong, and a depth-focused Mets front office, helmed by president David Stearns, surely doesn’t want to burn Megill’s final option year at a time when he’s pitching well.

One potential wrinkle that could impact the Mets’ rotation depth unfolded as I was writing that last paragraph: Senga exited today’s game against the Nationals with an injury. The right-hander covered first base on a grounder to the right side of the infield, made a leaping catch to corral the throw, and grabbed at his leg after coming down on the bag (video link via SNY). Senga eventually walked off the field under his own power, but he was down on the field for a couple minutes with the Mets’ training staff.

A lot will hinge on whether Senga is forced to skip a start or head to the injured list. There’s no way to know for the time being. He’s surely just in the very initial stages of evaluation. That situation will be worth watching with a close eye, but so long as he avoids a lengthy trip to the IL, that same scenario of six to eight generally established big league starters vying for five rotation spots will loom as a possibility. The Mets could move to a six-man rotation, of course, though Sherman notes that they prefer not to play one reliever short, as they’d be required to do by rolling out a permanent six-man staff.

If the Mets do end up giving serious thought to trading Blackburn, there’ll be no shortage of interested teams. He’s hardly a front-of-the-rotation piece, but the 31-year-old righty carries a 4.39 ERA, 20.1% strikeout rate and 7.5% walk rate over his past 299 1/3 major league innings. He’s pitched in 58 games over that stretch, with all but two of them coming out of the rotation.

Blackburn is in his final season of club control. He’s being paid $4.05MM this year, with about $2.35MM of that sum yet to be paid out. He’s a free agent at the end of the season, so the Mets probably won’t get a particularly large return for him, but they could get a nominal prospect or perhaps a lower-end reliever with more team control. On top of that, trading Blackburn would actually save the Mets around $4.94MM, given that they’re deep in the top bracket of luxury tax penalization and thus subject to a 110% tax on every dollar over the top threshold.

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