Mets reliever Dedniel Núñez to undergo second Tommy John surgery

"Unfortunate," the Mets' skipper said. "You feel for the guy. This is something he dealt with last year, missed the whole season, rehabbed the whole year, worked extremely hard."

The 29-year-old has struggled with arm injuries throughout his career and had his first Tommy John surgery in 2021 after a UCL sprain. Núñez was dominant for the Mets last season, specifically during June and July. Though his season was shortened by an elbow sprain, he finished 2024 with a 2.31 ERA across 25 appearances.

It's unfortunate timing for the right-hander, who, as Mendoza indicated, was coming into form for New York. "When we started to see that version of Núñez, for him to go down is unfortunate," he told the media Saturday.

Núñez had a difficult May, struggling in his five appearances before getting sent down to Triple-A. When he returned to the bigs in late June, the righty showed flashes of his former self, providing two of the bullpen's 6.1 scoreless innings against the Atlanta Braves after Griffin Canning's Achilles injury.

After his performance, Núñez spoke about his soaring confidence , and it felt like the Mets had the 2024 version of him back. But instead, Núñez will join Jose Butto, Max Kranick, AJ Minter, and Danny Young on the IL as New York's bullpen suffers yet another crushing injury.