Mets' Brooks Raley weighing options on elbow injury, will visit another doctor Tuesday

Mets reliever Brooks Raley, who has been out since April 19 due to left elbow inflammation, told reporters Saturday that he's weighing his options on his next steps.

"Honestly, just kind of gathering information at this point," Raley said. "Trying to make the right decision with the information that we have. I think like Mendy (Carlos Mendoza) alluded to yesterday, going to see (Dr. Keith) Meister and kind of getting it a little bit further."

Raley noted he does not know everything about the injury at this time and has "gotten a couple different opinions" to try and "make a wise decision" for the next steps. Mendoza said Friday that he's "not close" to begin throwing again, and will visit the doctor next week. The pitcher confirmed that Saturday, saying he'll visit Dr. Meister in Texas on Tuesday.

When asked about the report saying he has a fray in his elbow ligaments, Raley tried to explain the "complex" situation.

"I don't know all the terminology if I'm being completely honest with you," Raley said. "I've heard that, I've heard other damage, spurs and things like that. I think it's a little more complex than that."

He added about what he's been told: "To this point? There's options. We can potentially try to throw through it and see how that goes, which we did a little bit and we kind of shut down. See if we can get the inflammation down. Overall, I don't have all the answers for you."

Raley went on to explain that he wants to visit Dr. Meister to figure out if he needs surgery for ligaments or bone spurs and what the best course of treatment is.

"Yes, potentially, if I have to get something fixed," Raley said. "If there is no solution, if it's going to be reoccurring and continue to be painful.

"Yeah... I would assume that (bone spurs) would be more of a potential brace or something like that, or TJ or something like that... It's more complex than that. Just kind of have to go see, and he's the best, so I kind of wanted to see him and hear what he had to say."

The 35-year-old left then discussed the possibility of being out for an extended amount of time, and how this injury has been a rollercoaster of emotions for him.

"It's tough. I think originally I was really optimistic," Raley said. "Original report is 'you're good to go, no issues here,' and kind of excited about that out. But then you get a few more eyes on it and they're like 'hold on a second, we kind of have to look at this a little bit.' Tried to throw and it just didn't feel quite right. It's unfortunate for sure, I love this team, I love this clubhouse and the fans and whatnot. It's been a tough couple weeks."

Raley added that he's been very fortunate during his career for this to be the first instance of an elbow-related injury, but acknowledged that he needs to be fully healthy to perform at the major league level.

"Like I said, all options are being weighed," Raley said. "For me in my skill set and what I do, age doesn't really matter to me. It's about being healthy. If I'm not that same player on the field, then I don't really bring a whole lot to the team. And I think most of us know that it's very difficult to play in the big leagues. You got to play 90 to 100 percent, you can't play at 70 percent. I'm just trying to be that player."