New York Mets closer Jeurys Familia could miss the rest of the season after undergoing surgery to repair a blood clot in his pitching arm.
Mets general manager Sandy Alderson told reporters that Familia had the surgery earlier Friday in St. Louis and will miss "several months." Alderson said he did not know details about the surgery, acknowledging uncertainty about how long Familia, a hard-throwing right-hander, will be sidelined.
"I don't have the results of the surgery, but we do believe that this is something that's going to keep him out several months," Alderson said. "It's possible he'll be back by the end of the year, it's possible that he won't. We just don't know at this point."
Familia was placed on the 10-day disabled list earlier Friday, less than 24 hours after the Mets announced the diagnosis of an arterial clot. Alderson specified that the clot was in Familia's shoulder/armpit area.
The Mets announced the roster move before their game against the Milwaukee Brewers. First baseman Lucas Duda was activated from the DL in a corresponding move.
"(The injuries) are pretty painful at times," manager Terry Collins said. "This is a big one. This guy is arguably one of the best closers in the game. We lost one of the best starters in the game for a while. Now we've lost one of the best closers in the game for a while. Yesterday was a tough day for a lot of us. Today, we've got to get ourselves ready to play tonight. We'll slot somebody else in those spots and move on."
Alderson said Familia originally began experiencing symptoms Wednesday and mentioned "in passing" to a trainer that he had some tingling in his right ring finger.
After pitching for a third consecutive day and allowing four runs in New York's loss Wednesday afternoon to the Giants, Familia again consulted with Mets medical personnel after experiencing "mild vascular symptoms," according to Alderson. He was diagnosed Thursday at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York and was referred to Dr. Robert Thompson, who performed the surgery.
"We've had a couple of those guys in the past who have had clots in their arms," Collins said. "Usually there are more significant tell-tale signs than there was with Jeurys. As you guys know, we check every day. There is not a day go by where, not just the trainers but the pitching coaches check with these guys on a daily basis. And he said, 'Yeah, I'm ready to go. Feel great.' Do I think that affected his outing on Wednesday night? I really don't. I just think he lost command of his sinker, because it didn't affect the two pitches that he used to throw."
Familia, who had a career-high 51 saves last season, is 1-1 with a 3.86 ERA and three saves this season. He began the season with a 15-game suspension under Major League Baseball's domestic violence policy, stemming from an incident with his wife in October. A New Jersey judge dropped the charges in December.
He is the second significant Mets pitcher to be sidelined for an extended period this season. Ace Noah Syndergaard is on the 60-day disabled list and isn't expected back until at least the All-Star break because of a torn muscle behind his right arm.