The Mets have placed 23-year-old pitcher Jenrry Mejia on the disabled list. Mejia left his start yesterday in the fourth inning because of discomfort in his pitching elbow. The team says that was because of bone spurs, which were already known to have been bothering him all season.
Formerly a top Mets prospect, Mejia was nearly a forgotten man coming into this season. He missed a lot of time with soreness in his arm but completed a rehab assignment in July and made five starts for the Mets. The results were outstanding: 27.1 innings pitched, 8.89 K/9, 1.32 BB/9, 0.66 HR/9, a 2.30 ERA, and a 2.46 FIP. His 0.7 fWAR actually ties him with Jon Niese, Dillon Gee, and Shaun Marcum for the Mets' second-best mark among starting pitchers this year.
Taking Mejia's spot on the roster is Greg Burke, who has split time between Las Vegas and New York this year. In 29 innings in the big leagues, he has a 4.66 ERA and 3.01 FIP.
As for the Mets' rotation, it looks like there will be a vacancy through the end of the season. It's hard to imagine the team will bring Mejia back for more starts in September when it's already known he was planning on surgery to remove those bone spurs.
Carlos Torres is already on the team's roster and could take Mejia's spot in the rotation, especially since the team called up another right-handed bullpen arm. Torres looks much more suited for a bullpen role, but a few starts won't make or break this Mets season. Most of the team's minor league arms—Jacob deGrom, Rafael Montero, and Noah Syndergaard—will soon hit innings limits for the year and wouldn't be available to pitch through the end of September.