New York Mets left-handed reliever Danny Young has been recommended by team doctors to undergo Tommy John surgery, manager Carlos Mendoza disclosed on Sunday prior to his team’s doubleheader against the St. Louis Cardinals.
Young suffered an elbow sprain and was initially placed on the 15-day injured list retroactive to April 27, but he was transferred to the 60-day IL on Sunday morning shortly before Mendoza disclosed the reliever’s fate.
Trouble had begun in recent weeks, though, as the 30-year-old began having issues recovering in between outings.
“I usually bounce back fine,” Young had said. “It’s something that’s kind of abnormal for me. We’re just going to send it around, kind of see what we get from other doctors.”
His injury came shortly after fellow southpaw reliever AJ Minter was shelved by a lat injury, which also landed him on the 60-day IL and robbed the Mets of each of their left-handed bullpen options. Even if Minter does not need surgery, he admitted that he will not be able to return until at least September.
Genesis Cabrera was called up on Thursday to give the team at least one lefty out of the pen after Brandon Waddell gave New York 4.1 scoreless innings on Wednesday against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Citi Field. Brooks Raley, who is in the final stages of his recovery from Tommy John surgery he underwent last May, was also brought back on a one-year deal. However, he is not expected to make his season debut until late June.
The mad bullpen shuffling has come after the Mets’ stable of relievers remained unchanged and was the best in baseball through the first few weeks of the 2025 season.
“It’s part of what we do,” Mendoza said last week. “I think it was different the first two weeks when we didn’t make a move. It was like, ‘Man, I don’t know that I’ve seen this before.’ But you knew at some point you were going to be facing these challenges. Every team goes through it, especially when you’re playing so many games… You’re not going to go that long without [an injury].”
Young came out of nowhere to become a regular contributor out of the Mets’ bullpen last season. After making just 11 career appearances with the Seattle Mariners and Atlanta Braves from 2022 to 2023, he made 42 appearances with New York last season.
