Mets' Joey Lucchesi to have Tommy John surgery

The New York Mets cannot get away from the dark injury cloud that has hovered over them since early spring. 

Per Anthony DiComo of the MLB website, an MRI has revealed that left-hander Joey Lucchesi has a significant tear in the ulnar collateral ligament of his left elbow and will undergo Tommy John surgery on Thursday. The 28-year-old will certainly miss the rest of this season and, more likely than not, the entire 2022 campaign. 

The earliest Lucchesi could return to competitive play is probably late next summer.

As DiComo noted, Lucchesi found his best form of what is now a shortened season over his last five appearances but suffered the setback in Friday's game against the Washington Nationals. He ends the year at 1-4 with a 4.46 ERA.

The first-place Mets were linked in trade rumors in an attempt to add an arm to the rotation before Tuesday's development. Noah Syndergaard suffered a setback in his recovery from last year's Tommy John surgery and was shut down for at least six weeks in late May, and Carlos Carrasco still hasn't made his Mets debut because of issues related to a torn hamstring and might not do so before August at this rate. Ace and National League Most Valuable Player candidate Jacob deGrom seems to have survived his start on Monday but has given manager Luis Rojas multiple injury scares since early May.