Jose Quintana will undergo surgery on his fractured rib and will be out for the first half of the 2023 season.
The left-hander signed a two-year/$26 million deal in December 2022, following a successful second half of the season with the St Louis Cardinals. The 11-year veteran made 12 starts after the trade from Pittsburgh with a 2.01 ERA over 62⅔ innings despite a pedestrian strikeout rate of 6.9 K/9.
After consulting with doctors, Quintana chose surgery over letting the fracture heal naturally. Amongst the medical professionals, there was an orthopaedic tumour specialist because a lesion was discovered on the rib.
Thankfully, the biopsy came back benign clearing the 34-year-old of cancer concerns.
Speaking last week, general manager Billy Eppler said surgery would reduce the risk of further injuries caused by the lesion.
Eppler would not give a timeline for his pitcher’s return, however only saying, “it will go past July 1st.”
A lot will depend on how soon Jose can resume physical activity.
In reply to a question about how much downtime Quintana needs after this procedure, does he need to take a week or two weeks or 10 days before he can run, Eppler noted:
“It’s a fairly involved surgery. Whenever you’re doing a bone graft, it’s going to hurt. That’s why it’s hard to set a specific timetable, but in any of the calendars we’ve looked at in pencil, they’ve all drifted past July 1.”
While the news on José Quintana isn't ideal, the Mets do have two excellent options to take his spot in David Peterson and Tylor Megill. Both have performed well this spring.
Peterson: 8 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 4 BB, 9 K
Megill: 8.1 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 6 K
— Anthony DiComo (@AnthonyDiComo) March 14, 2023
Quintana’s absence will obviously weaken the Mets’ roster, but the news might have been far worse.
Featured Image by Doug Murray / Getty Images
Alex Worth is covering the New York Mets during 2023 as part of the growing team of writers at Bat Flips and Nerds. Follow him on Twitter @AlexWorth17