Mets reliever Tim Byrdak will have surgery Tuesday to fix a tear in his left knee and will be miss four to six weeks, while star third baseman David Wright has gotten a cortisone shot for his ailing rib cage.
Byrdak was expected to be the Mets' only left-hander in the bullpen when the season started. He was 2-1 with a 3.82 ERA in 72 games
"Obviously this will impact our left-handed relief," general manager Sandy Alderson said Monday. "We'll just have to evaluate things as we go forward. But I would suspect that Byrdak would not be available to us for some portion of the regular season. We'll have to accommodate that."
Wright has not played in a spring training game this year. He's been slowed by pain in his left rib cage and is in New York awaiting further treatment.
Wright injured a muscle in his rib cage during an infield drill early in camp. He has not swung a bat yet.
"Basically, what the doctors have told us is he had essentially plateaued — there was a little bit of soreness, not a great deal — but that this will accelerate the recovery process," Alderson said.
An MRI exam did not reveal significant damage, Alderson added.
