The New York Mets placed Austin Warren on the 15-day injured list Wednesday with a right forearm strain, then recalled Tobias Myers to take his place in the bullpen. An MRI showed a strain but no significant damage to the ligament, easing the worst fear but not enough to keep him active.
The move matters now because Warren had become a useful arm for a bullpen under pressure before the Aug. 3 trade deadline. The Mets have already used 26 pitchers in 2026, not counting position players, and every loss from that group makes the path to the deadline look a little narrower.
Warren’s injury news lands after two rough outings that drove up the numbers attached to his season. He gave up five earned runs, four hits and one walk without recording an out in New York’s 16-12 loss to the Kansas City Royals on Tuesday, and three days earlier he allowed four runs in two innings against the Atlanta Braves. Before those games, his ERA was 2.45. It now sits at 4.63 across 35 innings in 26 games.
That is the part that complicates the story. The MRI brought relief because it did not show major ligament damage, but the forearm strain still removes Warren from throwing in games, and likely from the kind of daily bullpen work the Mets need from a fresh reliever. A right forearm issue can be especially limiting because it affects the ability to grip, extend and repeat a throwing motion without discomfort, which is why even an encouraging scan does not mean a quick return.
Austin Warren had opened a lane for himself after not making the team out of spring training, and now the Mets have to fill that spot with one fewer reliable option. The club is already trying to piece together innings while lefty relievers A.J. Minter and Brooks Raley sit among the obvious trade candidates, which only sharpens the value of every healthy arm on hand. No return timeline was given for Warren, so the next step is simply getting him healthy enough to resume throwing without pain and work back from there.
