Mets reliever J.J. Putz to undergo elbow surgery

New York Daily News—June 4, 2009

J.J. Putz will undergo surgery Tuesday to remove a bone spur and fragments from his right elbow, the Mets GM announced yesterday. Putz indicated the elbow "hurt like hell" while following through on pitches when he surrendered two runs in the seventh inning Thursday in Pittsburgh, signaling surgery was unavoidable. An examination yesterday at Hospital for Special Surgery confirmed the need for the arthroscopic procedure.

Putz's diagnosis came less than 24 hours after the Mets learned Jose Reyes tore a hamstring tendon in his right leg in an extended spring training game Wednesday.

Reyes' agent said the shortstop underwent a state-of-the-art procedure on Thursday. It involved drawing Reyes' own blood, separating the parts using a centrifuge, then re-injecting platelet-rich blood into the injured area. Professional athletes including Hines Ward and Takashi Saito have used the procedure, known as platelet-rich plasma therapy.

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