A.J. Minter is still weighing his options.
The Mets reliever underwent another MRI on Wednesday for a lat injury that could result in season-ending surgery, manager Carlos Mendoza said.
“It was one of the recommendations from one of the doctors,” Mendoza said before the Mets faced the Arizona Diamondbacks at Citi Field. “Wanted to see clear imaging on some of the parts there. That’s the update. Maybe another couple of days [before he makes a decision].”
The update came a day after Mendoza said the Mets were gathering information about the “pretty significant” lat injury that Minter suffered during Saturday’s game in Washington.
Whether Minter requires surgery or not, the left-hander is primed to miss a large chunk of time.
It’s a major loss for a Mets bullpen that entered Wednesday with a 3.04 ERA — the sixth-best mark in the majors.
Minter, 31, boasts a 1.64 ERA with 14 strikeouts in 11 innings and is the Mets’ highest-leverage left-handed reliever.
“Guys will step up, and it doesn’t necessarily have to be a left-handed pitcher,” Mendoza said.
“We’ve got righties that we feel very comfortable facing lefties and how they match up against them. Guys will continue to get opportunities and they will step up. We feel good with our depth. We feel good with the guys we’ve got in there.”
Minter joined the Mets in the offseason on a two-year, $22 million contract with an opt-out, filling a void in a bullpen that lacked a go-to lefty reliever for most of last season.
The nine-year MLB veteran has a 3.23 ERA over 397 career appearances. He spent his first eight seasons with the Atlanta Braves.
“Mint’ is a huge part,” reliever Reed Garrett, who entered Wednesday with a 0.00 ERA, told the Daily News. “It’s just one of those things where unfortunately it happens in this sport, and I think it’s just next guy up. Hopefully we just continue to pitch the way that we’re pitching.”
Danny Young, who began Wednesday with a 4.32 ERA, is the only healthy left-hander in the bullpen other than Brandon Waddell, whom the Mets called up from Triple-A Syracuse to serve as a bulk reliever in Wednesday’s game.
This week, the Mets re-signed Brooks Raley, who was their top left-handed reliever before he underwent Tommy John surgery last year. Raley, 36, is still rehabbing from the elbow operation but could rejoin the Mets this summer.
PAUL’S PROGRESS
Paul Blackburn (right knee inflammation) is set to make his second rehab appearance on Friday with High-A Brooklyn.
The right-hander was scratched from a rehab outing last week after a stomach bug caused him to lose weight.
Blackburn, who began the season on the injured list, allowed one run over two innings with a strikeout with High-A Brooklyn on April 19 in his first rehab start.
BRANDON’S BETTER
Brandon Nimmo remained out of the Mets’ starting lineup Wednesday, but he was feeling “better” from the illness that kept him out of Tuesday’s game, Mendoza said.
Mendoza hoped Nimmo would be available off the Mets’ bench.
“It’s not a stomach bug,” Mendoza said. “This is more like the flu where there’s body aches. This is completely different than what [Jesse] Winker dealt with, but some of the other guys are feeling it right now, and yesterday it got Nim’ pretty good.”
Nimmo tied a franchise record with nine RBI in the Mets’ 19-5 win in Washington on Monday.
