Mets’ Quintana out until at least July

Lefthander José Quintana won’t make his New York Mets debut until at least July because of a stress fracture in his rib.

The Mets are relieved that the prognosis wasn’t even more severe.

Mets general manager Billy Eppler told reporters Tuesday a scan revealed a lesion on the impacted rib. Quintana went to New York to visit an orthopedic tumor specialist for a biopsy and additional scans that revealed the lesion was benign.

“This was bigger than baseball,” Eppler said. “José’s got our support and anything he needs. I’m just really thankful we’re at least here as opposed to one of the other potential outcomes.”

Eppler said Quintana will have an operation Friday in New York that involves a bone graft.

Eppler also said recovery from the surgery will keep Quintana out until at least July 1 but didn’t offer any specifics on a possible return beyond that.

Gomez debuts in international play

Rio Gomez, the son of longtime Bay Area sportswriter Pedro Gomez, made his World Baseball Classic debut on Tuesday night, pitching a scoreless 11⁄3 innings for Columbia in a 5-0 loss to Canada.

Gomez, who is a Red Sox prospect that played with Double-A Portland last season, notched a pair of strikeouts as his team fell to 1-2 in Group C play.

Pedro Gomez covered the A’s for the San Jose Mercury News and Sacramento Bee from 1990 to 1997.

Atlanta options Anderson, Elder

The Atlanta Braves optioned righthanders Ian Anderson and Bryce Elder to Triple-A Gwinnett. Both players had been competing for the fifth spot in the Braves’ starting rotation.

Anderson had a promising start to his career but went 10-6 with a 5.00 ERA last year and was sent to the minors in August.