J.J. Putz Will Have Surgery And Miss 8-12 Weeks

As reported by the Mets, reliever J.J. Putz will have surgery to remove a bone spur in his right elbow and miss at least two months.

The NY Post writes,

The team confirmed Putz’s decision after the former All-Star closer had his ailing elbow examined by team doctors this morning in New York.

Putz, who has been bothered by the bone spur in his elbow since last summer, when he was still with the Mariners, is expected to have the surgery immediately

Putz finally admitted he was limited by pain in the elbow Thursday in Pittsburgh after he allowed two runs on three hits in just one inning of work in the Mets’ 11-6 loss to the Pirates.

That outing came less than a day after Jerry Manuel had yanked Putz’s eighth-inning set up role due to poor performance. Putz allowed seven runs on nine hits and two walks in his final three appearances, a stint that covered just 1 1/3 innings.

What a killer.

You just can’t help but wonder if this could have been avoided had it been identified and treated earlier.

Just another tough break for the Mets in a season where there have already been too many tough breaks.