Mets place Sean Reid-Foley on 10-day IL with partially torn UCL
Mets relief pitcher Sean Reid-Foley looks to the catcher during the ninth inning of the team's game against the Nationals at Nationals Park on April 8 in Washington. Credit: AP/Alex Brandon
The right elbow discomfort that caused Sean Reid-Foley to exit Saturday’s game is as serious as the Mets feared. The reliever was diagnosed with a partially torn UCL after an MRI on Sunday, landing him on the 10-day injured list.
The team said Reid-Foley will meet with team doctors to discuss treatment options. Though a torn UCL is generally cause for Tommy John surgery, some players have successfully pitched with partial tears of the ligament, though that’s dependent on the extent of the rupture.
Seth Lugo has been pitching with a partially torn UCL for more than four seasons. Masahiro Tanaka has done the same since 2014 and is still pitching in Japan. Tanaka originally avoided surgery with a mix of rest and PRP injections, though he didn’t do any special treatment in his later years with the Yankees.
Reid-Foley said he felt a twinge while striking out Nick Castellanos in the eighth inning of Saturday’s loss to the Phillies. Buck Showalter said they had no indication that Reid-Foley had experienced any discomfort in the elbow before that.
“Obviously, we wouldn’t have pitched him” if there had been any sign of pain, Showalter said. “It’s unfortunate, but we’re lucky in today’s world, it’s something that can be fixed.”
Reid-Foley has been one of the few Mets pitchers to struggle this season, allowing six earned runs, seven hits and seven walks with eight strikeouts in 10 innings for a 5.40 ERA.
The Mets recalled Yoan Diaz from Triple-A Syracuse in a corresponding move.
Nothing personal
Tomas Nido caught Max Scherzer on Sunday night, as he has for each of Scherzer’s starts this season, but Showalter said it was a coincidence.
“He’s got comfort in both of them,” Showalter said. “I think next time out or maybe the time after that, you’ll see Mac [James McCann] catching him. It’s something that won’t become a trend.”
Laura Albanese is a reporter, feature writer and columnist covering local professional sports teams; she began at Newsday in 2007 as an intern.
