Drew Smith’s season is officially over.
And his Mets career could very well be, too.
The reliever underwent right elbow UCL reconstruction surgery with internal brace augmentation on Friday, the team announced. The operation was performed by Dr. Keith Meister in Arlington, Texas.
He’ll likely miss all of next year in addition to the rest of this year.
“You hate to see it,” manager Carlos Mendoza said before Saturday’s clash against the Rockies at Citi Field. “… He’s still young. He’ll get back on the field, he’ll get back on track. He’s got a lot of innings left.”
Though it was expected, Smith’s absence provides another brutal blow to a Mets bullpen that is already running on fumes.
Smith, 30, owned a 3.06 ERA with two saves this season in 19 appearances.
But Smith, the team’s longest-tenured pitcher, revealed last month that an MRI exam showed he had “pretty significant” ligament damage in his right elbow, and it was quickly expected that he’d need surgery.
He sought a second medical opinion, and now Smith officially underwent the second elbow operation of his career.
Smith previously missed the 2019 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery on his right elbow, a season after making his MLB debut.
“It’s a cruel game,” Smith said on June 29, when he revealed the injury. “And sometimes it’s unfair. …“I’ve been with the Mets for a long time, and I love this organization. I don’t know if my time here is over, obviously, but it could be, and it just sucks to see it end like this.”
Beyond leaving the Mets’ bullpen thinner, the injury comes at a brutal time for Smith. He is set to be a free agent after the season for the first time in his career.
Originally a third-round pick in the 2015 MLB Draft by the Tigers who was sent to the Rays two years later, the Mets acquired Smith from Tampa Bay in 2017 in exchange for Lucas Duda.
In six years with the Mets, Smith recorded a 3.48 combined ERA with five saves.
He last pitched in the team’s June 23 win, 5-2, over the Cubs.
He was forced to enter that game in the ninth inning with a rushed warm-up following Edwin Diaz’s ejection for sticky stuff.
Smith recorded two outs before motioning for the trainers to check on him. He stayed in the game but gave up a single and was subsequently pulled.
A few days of rest did not solve Smith’s pain, and an MRI soon showed the damage.
The Mets’ reeling bullpen entered Saturday with a 4.22 ERA. The unit will now have to replace its longtime mainstay.
“We’ll pray for him for a full recovery,” Mendoza said. “We’ll support him.”
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