MILWAUKEE — The Mets finally got some good injury news yesterday, although Carlos Beltran isn’t out of the woods just yet.
A second opinion in Vail, Colo., determined the center fielder would not need microfracture surgery on his ailing right knee. Beltran instead will rest at least through the All-Star break after Dr. Richard Steadman upheld the Mets’ original diagnosis of a bone bruise.
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The best-case scenario is Beltran coming back in three weeks, but there are no guarantees because bone bruises are notoriously slow to heal, and Beltran has been ordered to avoid baseball activities until he is entirely pain free.
Also, Beltran’s bruise more than doubled in size over the past month after he played on it following a cortisone shot. Not only that, but the Mets let slip yesterday that there is more than one bruise in the knee.
Even so, a reeling team that has nine players on the disabled list was quick to express relief at Steadman’s verdict.
“We saw that as good news,” said assistant GM John Ricco, who is traveling with the team. “There were a lot of questions [Monday] as to whether there was something new or something else in there, and the word we got from the second opinion was that, no, it was pretty much what we knew it was. Now, it’s just a matter of how quickly he’s able to heal.”
Beltran, who has been on the disabled list since June 22, will stay off the knee completely for the next two days before being re-evaluated in New York and receive further treatment.
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Beltran sought a second opinion from Steadman on the advice of his agent, Scott Boras, and with the Mets’ blessing after Dr. David Altchek’s original diagnosis at the Hospital for Special Surgery. Altchek had predicted Beltran could be back by late next week, but Steadman suggested a slightly longer period of rest and rehab.
Questions were raised about Beltran’s future Monday because Steadman is the pioneer of microfracture surgery, which involves drilling holes in the knee to produce clotting that mimics missing cartilage. Bone bruises are often the first stage in a process that can lead to microfracture surgery, a procedure performed on numerous NFL and NBA players that has ended the career of some.
As for Beltran’s potential return, team officials aren’t making any promises of late July even though yesterday’s outcome appeared very positive.
“From the get-go, we really didn’t give out a timeframe because it’s all dependent on how he feels,” Ricco said. “He’s going to have to get off it for a while until he’s pain free. I will say it’s probably looking like the All-Star break. I hoped he maybe would be back before that, but it looks like we’re headed towards after more than sooner.”
Even so, Jerry Manuel was quick to jump on the encouraging words as a sign his battered team could soon be getting some much-needed reinforcements. As well as Beltran, the Mets remain hopeful Carlos Delgado, Jose Reyes and Oliver Perez will all be back by early August.
“We have a lot of things that it looks as though we can look forward to,” Manuel said before last night’s matchup with the Brewers. “The real key is that we survive and they have no setbacks. Then we’ll begin to say things are [back to normal].”
bhubbuch@nypost.com