We now have an official diagnosis on Jose Quintana’s side issue: he has a small stress fracture of the fifth rib on his left side, and will travel to New York for further testing.
Quintana left Sunday’s start after one inning due to left side tightness, and on Monday, imaging revealed the small fracture as the cause. He had already pulled out of pitching for Team Colombia in the World Baseball Classic after leaving Sunday’s game, and now, there is now no timeline for his return.
The Mets signed Quintana to a two-year, $26 million deal that lines up with most of the rest of the Mets’ rotation’s timeline – only Kodai Senga is under guaranteed contract beyond 2024 – but now, they will be without their No. 4 starter for the foreseeable future.
Assuming Quintana will not be ready by the first week of April, there is now truly a competition in camp between Tylor Megill, who was the Mets’ Opening Day starter last year after Jacob deGrom’s late injury, and David Peterson, who is day-to-day after taking a line drive off his foot on Saturday.
Follow Lou DiPietro on Twitter: @LouDiPietroWFAN
Listen live to WFAN via:
Audacy App | Online Stream | Smart Speaker
Follow WFAN on Social Media:
Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | Twitch