Mets LHP Jose Quintana will be out until at least July, as he will undergo bone graft surgery to heal a stress fracture of his rib and “pack in” a benign lesion that was found on the rib.
GM Billy Eppler made the announcement Tuesday afternoon during the Mets-Nationals game at Clover Park in Port St. Lucie, saying that Quintana will undergo the surgery on Friday in New York City.
“We received the original scan, which showed that he had a stress fracture on the fifth rib. When looking at the scan, our orthopedist saw something concerning – and there was a lesion on that rib,” Eppler explained. “We sent Jose to New York to get looked at by an orthopedic tumor specialist, who did scans and tests and a biopsy, and we were waiting a number of days, which is part of the reason there was a delay in discussing his status.”
The biopsy came back benign, but as Eppler explained, the Mets were left with two options for treatment of the injury itself.
“We could go the conservative care route, but that came with a little bit more risk of this naturally healing, or we could go with a surgical route that has a higher probability this completely heals,” Eppler said. “Jose opted to go that route, so they’ll take bone from another area, pack in that lesion and area around the stress fracture to reinforce the healing.”
Eppler, the Mets’ brass, team doctors, and Quintana and his reps spent “a number of ours” on Zooms discussing the options, and the team “needed (Quintana) to come to peace with whatever he chose.”
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Which, as of Tuesday morning, was surgery.
“We got there today where he opted to have surgery, and then we contacted the doctors to schedule it,” Eppler said. “He will have that surgery Friday in New York City.”
Eppler apologized for the lack of updates and vagueness of any previously, but the team wanted to put the human being first and “not let this drip out.”
“This is a situation that could’ve turned into a bad place for him and his family, and we will always put that at the forefront of everything,” Eppler said. “I understand; I want to let our supporters know what’s going on with our athletes, but this took on a human element that’s bigger than baseball, and I’m thankful we’re at least here than at one of the other potential outcomes.”
As far as a timeline for return, Eppler would only say “past July 1,” as “that’s where all the calendars have drifted.”
“I tend to not look at the whole marathon and ask what we’re looking for at Mile 24, 25, 26, just focus on marker to marker,” “I’ll just say it’ll go past July 1, that’s what we do know. Where it lands after that, I think we’d be best served to just have periodic updates as time goes on, but I think a lot will depend on how much down time he needs after the procedure, and when he can begin physical activity.”
Follow Lou DiPietro on Twitter: @LouDiPietroWFAN
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