New York Mets Star Free Agent Has Cancer Scare During Evaluation For Rib Injury

Getty Image


The New York Mets were one of, if not the primary player in MLB free agency this offseason.

Despite losing superstar Jacob DeGrom to the Texas Rangers, the Mets and deep-pocketed owner Steve Cohen added a number of big-name pieces to a team that won 101-games in 2022.

One of those names was MLB All-Star Jose Quintana.

Quintana is no longer the ace he one was, but the lefty still boasted an impressed 2.93 ERA in 32 starts last season with the Pittsburgh Pirates and St. Louis Cardinals.

Now, however, it appears that fans in the Big Apple will have to wait a good while longer to see him take the mound in a meaningful game for New York.

Mets Pitcher Jose Quintana To Miss Months After Cancer Scare Reveals Rib Fracture

Mike Puma of the New York Post reports that Quintana will miss the first half of the season due to a stress fracture in his ribs.

The left-hander is expected to be shut down from throwing for at least three months, according to sources, after an initial diagnosis last week of a stress fracture on the fifth rib on his left side.

Doctors have indicated to the pitcher that the stress fracture wasn’t the result of blunt force and are still trying to determine the cause.

Under a three-month timetable, Quintana would begin throwing again in mid-June at the earliest to ramp up for a return to the Mets’ rotation around the All-Star break. – via The New York Post

But the issue could’ve been far, far worse. Mets general manager Billy Eppler spoke with media members on Tuesday regarding Quintana’s condition and revealed the 34-year-old Colombian had a cancer scare while having the injury evaluated.

Eppler told reports that doctors found a lesion on Quintana’s ribs. They then performed a biopsy which thankfully came back negative. But Quintana will still have surgery to repair the broken rib. He’s not expected to return until a least July.

It’s certainly not good news for Quintana or Mets fans. But given the alternative, you have to imagine that both sides are happy that a fracture is all it is.