PHOENIX — The New York Mets bullpen suffered another loss Thursday when the club placed right-hander Dedniel Núñez back on the injured list with persistent forearm tightness. The move is retroactive to Aug. 26 and Núñez would be eligible to return on Sept. 10.
Núñez initially hit the IL with forearm tightness on July 26. He returned on Aug. 23 and appeared in one game last week, getting five outs in a win over the San Diego Padres.
But in the days since, Núñez hadn’t been able to recover as he had earlier in the season, or even as he had following his rehab outing.
The Mets have some optimism that Núñez can make a swift recovery. They placed him on the IL Thursday without a corresponding move — Tylor Megill will be called up Friday to start in Chicago — to permit him to return as soon as possible. And the club’s objective measures of Núñez’s strength in his arm and shoulder at this point in the season don’t point to a significant issue.
That just makes how Núñez is feeling less explicable for the club. And any forearm tightness is concerning for a pitcher, especially one who’s already gone under the knife for Tommy John surgery like Núñez.
Núñez’s return was supposed to bolster a bullpen that has never really provided manager Carlos Mendoza with a reliable bridge to closer Edwin Díaz. At various junctures this season, the Mets’ best relievers have been relatively inexperienced ones growing into high-leverage roles, and that’s come with hiccups.
Reed Garrett was lights out in April but regressed in May and hit the IL himself by July. Josd Buttó hasn’t been as sharp of late in his transition to the pen and still requires extra days of rest between appearances. And New York thought placing Núñez on the IL in late July was a precautionary move that would permit him to finish the season strong.
It’s also looking unlikely that right-hander Sean Reid-Foley will return this season. Reid-Foley has been out since June with a shoulder impingement. He appeared on the brink of a return earlier this month but labored with his command during minor-league rehab outings. The Mets shut Reid-Foley down two weeks ago to allow him to build up strength in his shoulder. He still hasn’t thrown since.
Mendoza said Tuesday in Phoenix that Reid-Foley is running out of time to return this year. Reid-Foley has missed more than 60 days and could be shifted to the 60-day IL if the Mets require the roster space.
With all these moving parts, the Mets haven’t yet decided which pitcher to add to the roster on Sept. 1. Mendoza mentioned length and a second left-hander as priorities, and Alex Young stands out as the likeliest option at Triple-A Syracuse.
Claimed off waivers earlier this season, Young has allowed one run in seven innings for the Mets. Since being sent down, he’s allowed four runs in 4 2/3 innings for Syracuse.
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