Two Mets pitchers recommended for Tommy John surgery

Two New York Mets pitchers are facing significant long-term injuries, as The Athletic’s Tim Britton reports that Tommy John surgery has been recommended for both Tylor Megill and Reed Garrett.  Both right-handers are considering their options before committing to the TJ procedure, plus Garrett already has another surgery awaiting in the form of a planned procedure to move a nerve in his right arm.

The 30-year-old Megill last pitched on June 14, as he was sidelined by an elbow sprain that (according to the pitcher) didn’t come with any structural damage at the time.  However, Megill’s rehab assignment was shut down due to some renewed elbow discomfort during a Triple-A start on Sept. 7, and the latest set of tests has apparently delivered the unwelcome news of UCL damage.

Garrett has been battling elbow issues for over a month, as he missed two weeks (spanning the end of August and start of September) due to elbow inflammation.  That minimal IL stint didn’t seem like cause for concern until Thursday, when Garrett was returned to the 15-day IL with a sprain in his throwing elbow.

Britton writes that Garrett could opt for a PRP injection and then see if that is enough to heal his elbow, yet the nerve surgery and the attached four-month recovery period are additional obstacles.  If Garrett got a Tommy John surgery relatively soon, he would very likely be ready to go by Opening Day 2027.  If he goes the PRP route, he wouldn’t be able to get the shot until after he is fully recovered from the nerve procedure, so there’s a risk that Garrett would end up wasting a lot of recovery time if he ended up needing a TJ surgery anyway.  Garrett turns 33 in January, adding to the ticking-clock nature of what an extended absence means for his career as a whole.

Outlook for Tylor Megill and Reed Garrett

At the very least, the 2025 season at a minimum is over for both pitchers.  That already somewhat seemed like the case anyway given Megill’s setback after a lengthy absence and Garrett’s late-season elbow sprain, yet now even the faint hope of a return in the event of a deep Mets playoff run has been squashed.  It leaves the pitching-needy Mets with even more questions to address about their arms depth if New York even makes it into the postseason, but the bigger-picture issue is clearly the very real possibility that Megill and Garrett will both miss the entire 2026 campaign.

Megill has primarily pitched as a starter over his five MLB seasons (all with the Mets), but he has been deployed more as a back-end rotation arm or even a fill-in rather than a truly stable member of the rotation.  Megill has generally done well when given the opportunity, and he took a step forward in 2025 by posting a 3.95 ERA over 14 starts and 68 1/3 innings.  His 10.8% walk rate is on the high side, but Megill’s 29.2% strikeout rate was a career best, and he also had very strong whiff and barrel rates.

2025 is also Garrett’s fifth MLB season, though he also spent the 2020-21 seasons pitching in Japan.  Garrett joined the Mets on a waiver claim from the Orioles in 2023, and then finally carved out a foothold for himself in the majors as a workhorse member of New York’s bullpen.  Since Opening Day 2024, Garrett has a 3.83 ERA in 111 appearances and 112 2/3 innings for the Amazins, with a 30.3% strikeout rate and 11.5% walk rate.  Apart from the control issues, Garrett has been a pretty stable member of a Mets bullpen that has seemed to be in constant flux.

Megill is in his first year of arbitration eligibility, and is playing on a $1.975M salary in 2025.  Garrett is only arb-eligible for the first time this coming offseason, and as a non-closing relief pitcher, would have been in line for a pretty modest guaranteed salary in 2026.  Between these low salaries and the good numbers the duo have posted in their time in Queens, the Mets will probably still tender both pitchers contracts even in the event that they undergo TJ surgeries, since the team will still have control when both are (presumably) healthy in 2027.