Mets' Frankie Montas out for season with elbow injury, may need Tommy John surgery
The Mets' Frankie Montas pitches against the Los Angeles Angels at Citi Field on July 22. Credit: Jim McIsaac
ATLANTA — Frankie Montas’ season definitely is over, and his 2026 might be in extreme jeopardy, too.
Montas, who signed a two-year, $34 million contract with the Mets in the offseason, has a “pretty significant” injury to the UCL in his right elbow, Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said Saturday. The club is consulting with multiple doctors, but Tommy John surgery is a possibility. If that takes place, it will cost him all of next year.
“He was pretty devastated yesterday when he found out,” Mendoza said. “It’s been a hard year for him since spring training when he went down [with a lat injury], spent a lot of time rehabbing, came back and didn’t have the results.”
Montas was warming in the bullpen during the Mets’ loss to the Nationals on Thursday, a game in which he didn’t pitch, and reported soreness in his lower biceps on Friday, according to Mendoza.
“For him to come in the next day and express soreness on a day when you didn’t get into the game, that was like, something is up,” Mendoza said. “But we didn’t think [UCL] at the time because it was in the biceps area.”
Mendoza said this was the first time Montas felt soreness in the area, but he didn’t discount the possibility that the injury might’ve been hiding in plain sight and potentially contributing to his struggles.
“It probably had something to do [with it],” Mendoza said. “The velo was there, but maybe having an injury like that could affect him with his secondary pitches. He didn’t feel anything.”
Montas (3-2, 6.28 ERA) returned from the injured list on June 24 and made seven starts before poor results forced the Mets to put him in the bullpen. He pitched in nine games overall.
He’s the third pitcher signed by the Mets this past offseason to suffer a season-ending injury, joining Griffin Canning (Achilles) and A.J. Minter (torn lat).
Brazoban returns
With Montas hitting the injured list, the Mets recalled Huascar Brazoban to serve in a potential long-man role. Brazoban was a key piece of the bullpen early in the season but scuffled in June and July, pitching to a 9.00 ERA in his final 18 appearances before being demoted.
“Part of the plan when we sent him down to Triple-A was for him to go multiple innings and kind of build him up to almost 40 pitches,” Mendoza said. “We feel comfortable with him if we needed to use him in that role.”
Extra bases
Tylor Megill (elbow sprain) had a strong rehab outing Friday with Syracuse, allowing no runs and one hit with a walk and four strikeouts in five innings. He threw 65 pitches, 39 for strikes. He’ll likely have at least one more start in the minors, but “we’ll see turn by turn,” Mendoza said. “A lot can happen here. We’re in the middle of a 16-game stretch, but the fact that he’s up to 65 [pitches], that’s a good sign.” The Mets, who generally have shied away from throwing their starters on regular rest, intend to go that route for the time being, Mendoza said, though that remains “fluid.” . . . Brandon Nimmo’s stiff neck is improving and he planned to hit in the batting cages Saturday. He hasn’t played since getting removed in the second inning Wednesday . . . Luis Torrens wasn’t in the starting lineup for the third straight game after having a ball fouled off his left hand, but he was available off the bench . . . After being kept out of the starting lineup for two games with a sore shoulder, Jeff McNeil was back in action Saturday, playing second and batting fifth. His three-run homer in the third gave the Mets a 3-0 lead and he added a solo shot in the ninth in the Mets’ 9-2 win over Atlanta.
Laura Albanese is a reporter, feature writer and columnist covering local professional sports teams; she began at Newsday in 2007 as an intern.
