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KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A high-end bullpen piece for the Mets won’t be returning this season or perhaps next.

Dedniel Núñez will next week undergo Tommy John surgery for the second time in his career, according to manager Carlos Mendoza, after he was placed on the injured list earlier this month with an elbow sprain.

The right-hander appeared in 10 games for the Mets this season and pitched to a 4.66 ERA, following a spring in which the team slow-walked his buildup in hopes of preserving his elbow.

Last season Núñez pitched to a 2.31 ERA in 25 appearances for the team as a key midseason addition before he was shut down by elbow discomfort.

“He gave it a try,” Mendoza said before the Mets beat the Royals 3-1 on Saturday. “This is something that he dealt with last year and missed the rest of the season. He rehabbed the whole year, worked extremely hard, put himself in a position where he came in healthy in spring training … for him to go down is unfortunate.”

Núñez, 29, is the third Mets reliever whose season will end with surgery.

Earlier this season A.J. Minter and Danny Young were lost to surgeries.

Minter underwent surgery for a torn lat and Young had Tommy John surgery. Griffin Canning, a Mets starting pitcher, was lost for the season after undergoing surgery for a ruptured Achilles.

Núñez’s first Tommy John surgery occurred in March of 2021 when he was with the Giants, who had selected him from the Mets in the Rule 5 draft. Núñez was returned to the Mets after the season.

The Mets bullpen could receive a boost after the All-Star break, with lefty Brooks Raley nearing completion of his rehab assignment.

Raley underwent Tommy John surgery last year and in April re-signed with the Mets.

Juan Soto, who hit a big two-run homer in the Mets’ win on Saturday,was given the start at DH a day after fouling a pitch off his calf.

Jeff McNeil started in right field. It was Soto’s second start this season as the DH.

Mark Vientosowns the Mets’ past two go-ahead hits in the eighth inning when trailing by two runs or greater.

Vientos, who smashed a three-run double in the eighth inning on Friday, delivered a three-run triple on April 25 in Washington that put the Mets ahead.