Matz Undergoes Surgery To Have Bone Spur Removed From Elbow
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- The prognosis for Steven Matz to return to the Mets next spring is good after the left-hander underwent surgery to have a large bone spur removed from his pitching elbow Tuesday, WFAN baseball insider Jon Heyman reported.
The surgery was performed at the Hospital for Special Surgery in Manhattan.
The Mets announced last week that Matz was being shut down for the rest of the season. He has not played since Aug. 14 because of another arm issue -- a shoulder impingement.
Matz pitched with the bone spur for much of the season. He was assured by doctors that playing through the condition could be painful but would not worsen.
"I do know it was tough," Matz told Newsday. "Warming up in the bullpen was the worst. I was like, 'Dang, how am I going to get through this?' Normally, when I got back on the mound, I don't know if the adrenaline kind of took over, there was never a point where I was like, 'Man, I've got to come out of here.'"
No surgery is required for the shoulder, the Mets said last week.
"With the shoulder, everything structurally checked out fairly well," Matz said. "So I'm pretty happy with that because the shoulder can be a tricky thing."
Matz was 9-8 with a 3.40 ERA in 22 starts this season.
Of the five starting pitchers in the Mets' rotation at the start of the season, three have suffered season-ending injuries. Matt Harvey has been out since early July after undergoing surgery for thoracic outlet syndrome. Jacob deGrom was placed on the DL last month because of an injury to the ulnar nerve in his right elbow.
