There’s no question Jenrry Mejia has a great arm, but now that the right-hander appears headed for season-ending Tommy John surgery, whether he will ever be able to stay healthy enough to reach his potential is another matter.
The Mets announced yesterday that the 21-year-old had an MRI exam that revealed a complete tear of the medial collateral ligament in his right elbow. Mejia had been pitching for Triple-A Buffalo and left his last start on Friday after four innings with discomfort.
Mejia was examined at the Hospital for Special Surgery by the team’s medical director, Dr. David Altchek. Surgery was recommended, but Mejia, according to his agent Bill Rose, will get a second opinion from noted orthopedic surgeon Dr. James Andrews.
But Rose was realistic in his expectations.
“We don’t doubt the initial results,” Rose said.
Surgery likely would mean a 9-12 month recovery period, which would result in Mejia pitching again early next season.
“It was shocking,” Rose said. “We just thought it was tightness. It’s not at all what we expected or hoped for, but he’s only 21. He’ll do what he needs to do to get back and hopefully throwing 95-98 mph again.”
Terry Collins had expressed hope after becoming Mets manager that Mejia would make it to the major league team at some point this year. Pitching coach Dan Warthen, however, had concerns during spring training about Mejia’s long-term future as a starter.
“I think Mejia works really hard to throw the baseball and I worry about the volume of pitches over the course of a year when you’re throwing 30-35 starts and 100 pitches each start,” Warthen said in February. “You worry about whether he’s able to pound it. . . . But I certainly am not gonna count him out as a starter.”
After Mejia suffered a sprained shoulder last season and now the torn MCL, no doubt the question of his durability will come up again.
In five starts at Buffalo this season, he was 1-2 with a 2.86 ERA with 21 strikeouts in 28 1/3 innings. With the Mets looking to rebuild their farm system, losing one of their top prospects is only more painful.