Bryce

Montes de Oca

The 28-year-old hurler is working his way back from Tommy John reconstructive elbow surgery. All went well in that first session, and Montes de Oca was already hitting 96-98 mph with his heater. He’s expected to be ready to return at some point around the All-Star break barring any setbacks.

Montes de Oca will remain with the Mets since he’s never been outrighted previously in his career, if he goes unclaimed on waivers, which remains to be seen. The hard-throwing 27-year-old righty underwent Tommy John surgery in March and isn’t expected to be ready until sometime around midseason of the 2024 campaign.

The 27-year-old right-hander missed the entire 2023 season after undergoing the procedure, but it’s encouraging to see that he’s already throwing again. He should be an option to help out the Mets around the All-Star break in 2024 provided everything continues to go smoothly in his recovery.

Nothing has changed in the prognosis for the 26-year-old right-hander -- he will still undergo Tommy John surgery -- this was merely done as a procedural move to free up a spot on the team’s 40-man roster. He’ll miss the entire 2023 season -- and likely the first half of the 2024 campaign as well -- while recovering from the reconstructive elbow surgery.

Montes de Oca figures to be moved to the 60-day IL before long after it was announced that he required Tommy John surgery. He can now be ruled out until next season.

It was previously reported that Montes de Oca was set to undergo arthroscopic surgery to remove bone fragments from his elbow, but apparently more damage was found. The hard-throwing 26-year-old can now be ruled out for the season as he makes his way back from his second Tommy John surgery. He’ll hope to work his way back into the mix in 2024.

The 26-year-old right-hander is expected to need around four months to recover from the procedure, which means he won’t get back on the mound again until mid-August. It’s another tough blow for a hurler that was expected to play a role out of the Mets bullpen heading into the 2023 season.

Mets general manager Billy Eppler told reporters that Montes de Oca didn’t suffer any ligament damage and is merely dealing with a stress reaction in his right elbow. It sounds like the hard-throwing 26-year-old righty reliever has avoided a worst-case scenario outcome and should be an option for the Mets’ bullpen sometime in late April or early May.

All things considered, that’s about the best possible news that the Mets could have hoped for here as it means that there’s no ligament damage. He’ll be shut down from throwing for a week or so before being re-evaluated. He’ll begin the season on the injured list, but may not be staring at the extended absence that many had initially feared.

Mets manager Buck Showalter told reporters afterwards that Montes de Oca has a right forearm strain and will undergo further testing on Monday to determine the severity. It certainly looks like the hard-throwing 26-year-old righty will open the regular season on the injured list and could be facing an extended absence. There should be an update on his status sometime this week.