Jake McGee has a torn meniscus

Jake McGee, the Tampa Bay Rays' best reliever, will miss the remainder of the season with a torn meniscus in his left knee. He felt the injury on the 32nd pitch of his outing on Tuesday as he tried to complete a second inning of work after giving up a one-run lead in the eighth inning. He confirmed on the following pitch that something was wrong and was pulled from the game.

McGee traveled back to St. Petersburg and had an MRI this morning, according to the Rays, and Dr. Koko Eaton diagnosed the torn meniscus. McGee will have arthroscopic surgery tomorrow, and will miss six to eight weeks (triumphant World Series return?).

The Rays have placed McGee on the disabled list, retroactive to August 19, and have recalled Enny Romero to fill the bullpen.

The good news for Rays fans is that a meniscus tear is a relatively minor injury (as injuries that require surgeries go), and this should not effect McGee's status for next season. The bad news is that the Rays bullpen that's already been struggling recently, having blown two late-inning leads over the past two days, will now need to press on without its best pitcher.

On the season, McGee has struck out 35% of the batters he's faced while only walking 5%, meaning that his 2.57 ERA is actually worse than his remarkable peripherals. That type of production is difficult to replace.