José Quintana to undergo bone graft surgery

Mets GM Billy Eppler gave a rather significant and unsettling update on José Quintana this afternoon, revealing that the lefty has a lesion on his rib. Fortunately, Quintana’s biopsy was negative, but he still will undergo bone graft surgery to treat the benign lesion.

This explains why Eppler was cagey yesterday regarding reports that Quintana would be shut down for three months, saying that the team was still gathering information and Quintana was still seeing doctors. Given this diagnosis and surgery, the Mets expect Quintana to be sidelined until at least July.

As Quintana recovers from surgery, the Mets will likely turn to either David Peterson or Tylor Megill to fill his role in the rotation. Both pitchers have done well this spring with Peterson unscored upon in eight innings of work, including four hitless innings in this afternoon’s game, and Megill allowing just one run across 8 ¹⁄₃ Grapefruit League innings. Regardless of which of the two wins the job in the end, they will likely both be key contributors to the Mets in 2023.

This is not what Quintana or the Mets imagined when the 34-year-old signed his two-year, $26 million contract over the winter, but hopefully he has a smooth recovery from this health scare and returns healthy for the Mets in the second half.