New York Mets starting pitcher Jose Quintana has a benign lesion on his rib, a biopsy revealed after seeing a tumor specialist, as first reported by MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo on Tuesday.
The 34-year-old will undergo bone graft surgery and a timetable for a potential return will be at least July, according to the team. However, it would be safe to assume that he will miss even more time considering this is an issue that should be handled with extreme caution.
He was initially shut down from throwing for as many as three months on Monday due to what was originally described as a stress fracture in his rib.
Quintana signed a two-year, $26 million deal this offseason to join the Mets as their No. 5 starter after posting a 2.93 ERA and 137 strikeouts over 165.2 innings pitched with the Pittsburgh Pirates and St. Louis Cardinals.
Now with that spot open in the rotation open for at very least the first half of the season, David Peterson and Tylor Megill are the two favorites to assume that role.
