Dillon Gee to undergo surgery Friday, could be lost for season - MLB

Dillon Gee will undergo surgery to fix arterial damage in pitching shoulder Friday and could miss the rest of the season, a source told Adam Rubin of ESPNNewYork.com.

Gee was given the option of remaining on blood thinners after a catheter was used to break up the original blood clot in his shoulder, but since the artery is damaged, he decided his best course of action was undergoing surgery now, the source told Rubin.

The surgery will likely keep Gee from throwing for 6-8 weeks, so a mid-September return would seem to be the best-case scenario. Even then, he might only be a reliever, since it would take him time to regain the stamina necessary to start.

Gee has done solid work at the back of the Mets rotation this season, going 6-7 with a 4.10 ERA and an impressive 97/29 K/BB ratio in 109 2/3 innings. The current plan is to have Miguel Batista step into his rotation spot, but the Mets should strongly consider abandoning that idea and going to top prospect Matt Harvey, who is 7-4 with a 3.39 ERA for Triple-A Buffalo.

CINCINNATI — The Los Angeles Dodgers placed pitcher Noah Syndergaard on the 15-day injured list Thursday with a blister on the index finger of his right throwing hand.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said the timetable for Syndergaard’s return is unknown despite the 15-day designation.

“The physical, the mental, the emotional part, as he’s talked about, has taken a toll on him,” Roberts said. “So, the ability to get him away from this. He left today to go back to Los Angeles to kind of get back to normalcy.”

Syndergaard allowed six runs and seven hits in three innings against the Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday night, raising his ERA to 7.16.

Syndergaard (1-4) has surrendered at least five runs in three straight starts.

Syndergaard has been trying to return to the player he was before Tommy John surgery sidelined him for the better part of the 2020 and 2021 seasons.

Roberts said Syndergaard will need at least “a few weeks” to both heal and get away from baseball and “reset.”

“I think searching and not being comfortable with where he was at in the moment is certainly evident in performance,” Roberts said. “So hopefully this time away will provide more clarity on who he is right now as a pitcher.

“Trying to perform when you’re searching at this level is extremely difficult. I applaud him from not running from it, but it’s still very difficult. Hopefully it can be a tale of two stories, two halves when he does come back.”