Although he was not a lock to make the opening day roster, Rafael Montero’s loss hurts the pitching depth for the New York Mets.
According to Mike Puma of the New York Post, Rafael Montero of the New York Mets is headed to Tommy John surgery after suffering a complete tear of his UCL.
Mets say Rafael Montero has a complete tear of the UCL; likely headed for Tommy John surgery.
— Mike Puma (@NYPost_Mets) March 22, 2018
There were no guarantees that Montero was going to be on the opening day roster, but regardless, anytime a Mets player goes down you can almost hear a collective groan coming from Queens. Hearing the phrase Tommy John surgery is enough to make Mets fans shudder. But all things considered, this doesn’t change the outlook for the Mets this season.
Montero has been up and down in his tenure with the Mets. He posted a 5.52 ERA in 2016 for the Mets and was utilized as a starter and out of the bullpen. He has electric stuff, but never developed the consistency needed to succeed at the big league level. He’s going into his age-27 season so he’s still got time to resurrect his career. Hopefully, he can return from Tommy John better than he’s ever been before.
Obviously, an injury of this magnitude is never a good thing, but if Mets fans are looking for a silver lining, they can rest easy knowing that the front end of their rotation is still relatively healthy. Despite injuries to Montero and newly acquired Jason Vargas, the most important guys on the staff are heading into the season healthy.
Noah Syndergaard, Jacob deGrom, Matt Harvey, Zack Wheeler, and Steven Matz are all slated to be ready for the start of the season. At this point, the Mets are crossing their fingers and hoping that this is the last of any Spring Training injuries they have to deal with.
