Mets right-hander Seth Lugo reportedly has slight tear in UCL

We’ve basically gone from there’s nothing to worry about when it comes to Seth Lugo, to turns out he has a tear in his right elbow’s UCL.

The report comes from Newsday’s Marc Carig who was told about the diagnosis from sources within the Mets. The report has been confirmed by various sportswriters, but the team has not commented on it as of yet.

Carig explains that while no surgery is required to treat this slight tear, it’s not 100% sure the recommended rest and re-evaluation steps the Mets are taking will fully heal this issue.

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Originally, the Mets believed Lugo was just suffering from a dead arm after pitching extensively in the World Baseball Classic for Puerto Rico.

A new report yesterday suggested Lugo may have gotten some iffy news in his latest MRI, and was seeking a second opinion on his elbow. Lugo was originally scheduled to throw on Sunday, but now, it looks like the second opinion may have found what the original one missed.

As far as a timeline is concerned, Carig and other experts agree that it’ll be at least a few weeks before we see Lugo back out on the field. The idea is to let him rest for a couple of weeks, and then see how he’s doing.

The Record’s Matt Ehalt suggested the rest and recovery period could be as long as three to six weeks, so it’s really hard to nail down a specific timeframe at this moment.

Of course, most people hearing about the news will automatically want to blame the World Baseball Classic for this injury, but it may not have been responsible for it.

According to MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo, some within the Mets organization believe Lugo may have been pitching through this injury last season. Pitchers like Masahiro Tanaka and Adam Wainwright have pitched through similar tears, so it’s definitely possible that Lugo just wasn’t bothered by it much at the time the injury occurred.

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With the Mets’ starting pitching depth now looking shallower than ever, we’re hoping Lugo is the last guy to go down a little while. Hopefully he’s recovery can be quick and easy with no setbacks, so he can again help give this organization the backup it could need down the line.