It's more bad injury news for the New York Mets. On Wednesday, Mets manager Luis Rojas told reporters, including The Athletic's Tim Britton, that relief pitcher Dellin Betances will undergo shoulder surgery and miss the rest of the 2021 season.
Betances, 33, landed on the injured list in April with a right shoulder impingement after one appearance. He completed rehab appearances with Low-A St. Lucie, and the Mets were set to transfer him to Triple-A Syracuse, but now, it appears the Mets health and training staff have determined that the best course of action for his injury is surgery.
The right-hander had struggled to rediscover the velocity he flashed from his time with the New York Yankees, in which he racked up four straight All-Star appearances from 2014-17. He suffered from an injury-riddled 2019 season with the Yankees and pitched in just one game after battling shoulder and lat issues all year. When Betances did make his season debut in late September, he landed awkwardly on the mound and partially tore his left Achilles' tendon. He went on to sign with the Mets as a free agent the following offseason.
The Mets were hoping Betances could return something close to that form and give a big boost to a Mets bullpen in need of improvement. But the New York native has been unable to stay healthy and put up consistent efforts on the mound. In 2020, he struggled across 15 games, recording a 7.71 ERA with 11 strikeouts in 11 2/3 innings of work. He also missed time last year with a lat injury.
Despite injuries (Joey Lucchesi, Brandon Nimmo, J.D. Davis, Jonathan Villar) and delays in rehab (Noah Syndergaard, Carlos Carrasco) for players waiting to make their 2021 debuts, the Mets (41-34) sit in first place in the NL East with a three-game lead over the Washington Nationals.