PHILADELPHIA — The Mets won’t be getting back one key piece of their bullpen this season.
Dedniel Núñez, who emerged as a go-to set-up man for New York in the middle of the summer, is out for the rest of the season with a flexor injury in his right arm. Núñez received an injection of platelet-rich plasma on Friday.
“Disappointing,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “He’s been huge for us, and we had hope we’d get him back. It’s a big blow.”
The rookie Núñez initially landed on the injured list in the final week of July with a right pronator strain. At the time, the Mets thought they were being especially cautious with a pitcher who’s had multiple elbow surgeries and was unaccustomed to the sustained high-leverage usage he’d earned with his performance.
Núñez returned just over a month later, appearing in one game for 1 2/3 innings against the Padres. He struggled to bounce back from that outing, and the Mets held him out of action for a few days hoping he’d be able to work through it. By the end of the week, however, Núñez required another stint on the IL with right forearm tightness.
Even then, the club thought he’d be able to return this season, in part because their objective data didn’t reveal anything concerning in his elbow. Indeed, Mendoza said Friday that there’s nothing wrong with the ligament in Núñez’s elbow.
Asked if surgery was still on the table, Mendoza said, “Everything is on the table.”
“We’re hoping the PRP does the work here,” he added.
In Núñez’s absence, the Mets will lean even more on José Buttó, Phil Maton, Reed Garrett and Ryne Stanek to build the bridge to Edwin Díaz in the ninth inning.
(Photo: Matthew Childs / Reuters via Imagn Images)
