Ron Darling announced Saturday night he will take a medical leave from calling Mets games on SNY to have surgery to remove a mass in his chest.

In recent weeks, Darling has been embroiled in controversy after the publication of his new book, “108 Stitches,” in which he accused then-Mets teammate Lenny Dykstra of directing racist comments toward the Red Sox’s Dennis “Oil Can” Boyd during Game 3 of the 1986 World Series.

Dykstra is suing Darling, along with the book’s publisher, St. Martin’s Press and Macmillan Publishers, over the allegation.

Darling, 57, is hopeful that the surgery reveals no serious issues and that he can return to work next month. People with direct knowledge of the situation said the timing of the procedure has nothing to do with the flare up with Dykstra. Darling addressed his upcoming absence on the air Saturday night.

Darling, 1986 teammate Keith Hernandez and play-by-player Gary Cohen have been acclaimed as perhaps baseball’s best local broadcast team.

“My health is the top priority right now for my family and I,” said Darling. “I’m looking forward to being back in the booth with our crew and my friends Gary and Keith as soon as I can.”

Todd Zeile, SNY’s new main studio analyst, will step into Darling’s place on games. Nelson Figueroa and Jim Duquette will be in studio.

After the news broke, Dykstra chimed in on Twitter, replying to one of his earlier tweets where he wondered what was going on with Darling to put his allegations in his new book.

“I guess I now actually may have an answer to that second question,” Dykstra tweeted. “The most recent breaking news is not where I saw this going …”

“Doctors have been monitoring Darling over the past few months and tests revealed a mass on his chest,” SNY said. “Darling is now scheduled for a medical procedure next week. The doctors have told him that if there are no complications he should be back in the booth alongside Gary Cohen and Keith Hernandez next month.”

Mets owners Fred and Jeff Wilpon said in a statement that they hoped that Darling would only be off of game coverage for a brief period.

“Our thoughts and prayers continuously remain with Ron for a full recovery.”

Manager Mickey Callaway echoed those sentiments.

“I heard that. Our thoughts and prayers go out to him. Obviously a great Met,” Callaway said. “He’s part of the family, the Met family. And that’s tough news to hear. It’s tough for the fans. Tough for Ron and his family. And we’ll definitely be thinking about him.

“Hearing something like that with a person that is so special to our organization puts things into perspective at times. This is a tough loss. We play this game to win and lose, but when you get news like that, it’s tough. Ron’s a great guy. He’s a great Met. He’s a family member of this organization. And we’ll be thinking about him.”

— additional reporting by Ken Davidoff