“99%” Sure Mike Pelfrey Needs Tommy John Surgery

It is “99%” sure that Mike Pelfrey will have season-ending Tommy John surgery, which could also end his Mets career.

The  Mets confirmed Thursday that Pelfrey has a partial tear of the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow. He will visit with Dr. James Andrews, who seems to perform all of these surgeries, “as soon as possible,” according to Pelfrey.

“They brought up my options and they brought up the PRP (platelet rich plasma injection) and they put it at 10%-20% that it works,” Pelfrey told the Daily News. “So there was an 80% chance I was still going to have surgery so I thought it was best case for me that we just go ahead and do it. I’m supposed to go down and see Andrews personally and we’ll go from there. But I think surgery is about 99% that it’s going to happen.”

Pelfrey was stunned to learn that the “grabbing” he felt in his elbow during Saturday’s game was anything serious.

“I’ve never been hurt,” Pelfrey said. “It’s weird. I went for a precautionary MRI so they could tell me I had tendinitis and he drops that I have a tear. It’s tough.”

It’s also sad. Pelfrey was pitching well thus far this season — in three starts he had a 2.29 ERA. Perhaps he was finally turning things around, but now his season is over, as well as possibly his Mets career; the Mets would have to pay him more than $4 million (80% of his current salary) if they want to retain him for 2013. It is unlikely they would take such a chance on a pitcher coming off major surgery.