NEW YORK — Mets relief pitcher Brooks Lally is seeking a second opinion on his left elbow, the latest step in a process that could lead to season-ending surgery.
Larry hinted Saturday that he has bone spurs and at least some ligament damage in his left elbow, but “I don't know all the terminology” and “the diagnosis is a little more complicated” than a simple diagnosis. said. So he plans to fly Tuesday to see Dr. Keith Meister, an orthopedic surgeon in Texas.
“We don't know all the details,” Larry said. “There were some differing opinions, but we're trying to make a smart decision.”
If Reilly does undergo surgery, we expect it to be Tommy John or internal fixation surgery, which would keep him out for the rest of the season (and possibly end his Mets tenure). . However, Reilly still has at least some hope that he can “get over” his injury, provided his elbow damage is not too severe.
“All options are on the table,” he said. “Hopefully Wednesday we will have more clarity than anything and we can move forward from there.”
Lally, the Mets' top left-handed reliever since they acquired him in December 2022, was scoreless through the first seven innings this season. However, from mid-April he had difficulty recovering from being out and was experiencing unusual swelling around his elbow. The Mets sent him for an MRI, which team doctors initially found negative and gave him a cortisone injection. This worked well enough for Lowry to restart his pitching program. However, the swelling did not go down completely, so Raley sought a second opinion from Dr. Meister.
He plans to visit Texas in person to determine the best course of action. If Larry cannot continue to pitch without significant risk of recurrence of the discomfort, he will have little choice but to agree to surgery.
“Obviously you want to be able to pitch pain-free and be the best you can be,” Reilly said. “That's what I'm trying to do.”
Notably, Larry, 35, could become a free agent after this season.
If the Mets have to continue operating without Larry, fellow left-hander Jake Diekman will take on a larger role in the bullpen. The Mets are relying on three other left-handers for cameos: Josh Walker, Danny Young and Tyler Jay. None of them have anything close to the track record of Raley or Diekman.
“We hope to get good news,” coach Carlos Mendoza said. “We'll see what happens. In the meantime, we're going to keep piecing it together in the back of the bullpen. There's a lot of options. The good thing is we have some right-handers who can displace left-handers. I'm saying that”
