Mets right-hander Noah Syndergaard is about to take a notable step in his recovery from March 2020 Tommy John surgery. The hard-throwing 28-year-old will begin a minor league rehab assignment at the Low-A level on Wednesday, Tim Healey of Newsday reports.
The Mets have gone the past season-plus without Syndergaard, who was among the game’s most valuable starters before he went under the knife. Syndergaard has pitched to a terrific 3.31 ERA/3.37 SIERA with above-average strikeout and walk percentages of 26.4 and 5.6, respectively, across 716 innings in the majors. He’s now in his final year of team control, making this season all the more crucial for him.
For their part, the Mets have designs on winning the National League East – a division they lead by a half-game – so Syndergaard (and fellow righty Carlos Carrasco, who has been out with all year with a hamstring strain) will be a key reinforcement when he’s ready to come back. Jacob deGrom has continued to dominate as the leader of the Mets’ rotation this year, though he’s now on the IL with tightness in his right side. Marcus Stroman and Taijuan Walker have served as more-than-capable complements to deGrom, but a healthy Syndergaard would nonetheless be a welcome in-season addition for New York.
If he is his typical self in the majors, then he is the top free agent starter this off season. Provided he isn’t extended.
Top FA starter over de Grom, Scherzer, Kershaw, and Bauer? What has he accomplished?
Isn’t DeGrom signed through 2024? I thought he had an opt out after 2022, not this offseason.
Yes, Jake does not have an opt-out until after 2022. Bauer won’t be opting out after this year with his absurd salary for next year and Kershaw will almost 100% play for 1 of 2 teams when he’s able to choose. Scherzer is significantly older than any by far. Thor will be a hot commodity if he makes it.
Bauer has two years and $62 million remaining. He might opt out if he thinks he can do better than annually on a long-term deal. The way he’s pitching it is certainly a possibility.
The present Scherzer, though, is clearly superior to Thor.
He is 36 about to be 37.
Thor will be far more valuable come FA.
Not necessarily. The last Thor wasn’t that great. Depends how he pitched this season.
Uggghhh those guys aren’t FAs
But deGrom isn’t an FA and Bauer may not opt out. And yes, I’d probably take him over Kershaw and Scherzer, too.
A. His performance and health are a big IF
B. Age is a significant factor. Scherzer will be 37, Kershaw 34, Syndergaard 29.
If Syndergaard is his typical self in the Majors, he will be overrated inconsistency at it’s finest.
Could it be a coincidence that Mets have all these guys on the IL? I don’t think these guys want to play right now for whatever reason. Just very peculiar that nimmo, Davis, Conforto, mcneil, almora, degrom, guillorme, and lugo are injured at the same time. How can that even be? Think about it…..
They’re not the only team like that. Just look around baseball. There’s no conspiracy. Why wouldn’t they want to play?
Why do people always say ‘every team has injuries’? By the letter of the law, sure, but to say the Mets haven’t had more injuries than most teams is just incorrect.
Currently on the DL:
Nimmo, Conforto, McNeil, Davis (four offensive starters), Guillorme, Almora. For pitching, deGrom, Syndergaard, Carrasco (3/5 of the rotation, FYI), Yamamoto, Betances.
Within their division:
Phillies – zero offensive starters, no starting pitchers. Archie Bradley and Jojo Romero (who is terrible).
Braves – d’Arnaud, Pache, and Jackson. No SP. Dayton out of the bullpen.
Nats – zero offensive starters. Strasburg and Corbin (2/5 of the rotation)
Marlins – Marte and Alfaro. Elieser Hernandez
I mean, not even close. I’m not making excuses for the Mets, either. Most teams will have their share of injuries before the season is through. But the Mets, so far, have had more than others. This is just a fact. 2/5 of their rotation has not thrown an inning this season.
Now do the Jays and Yankees..
You forgot Soroka,Tousaint and Knoa on the braves
@rct This year the Mets are being hit hard, but you’re looking at one moment in time for the IL. The Mets just played a Phillies minor league team because everyone was hurt: Harper, Realmuto, Didi, Segura. That’s an all-star team of the walking wounded. If you go back a few weeks things look totally different. The Marlins are without Sixto Sanchez and Chisolm just came back. Braves have lost Acuna Jr. for brief stretches. And they lost a gaggle of starting pitchers. Really good ones too. Things look bad for the Mets right now, and they are. That sucks, but go back (and likely forward) in time a few weeks and the other NL East teams have had it bad too. It’s been a bloodbath. League-wide really.
You can do the same thing with virtually every team, @V.P.Hayes.
Most of the trade & free agent rumors here are of the IL placement variety. Didn’t the Brewers have 18(!) guys on the IL at one point? Or how about the Dodgers being heart up enough for bats they went & added The Ghost of Albert Pujols?
Yanks just lost Hicks & Stanton over the weekend. The Jay’s have been hammered by injuries. Springer still out. Yates done for the year.
It’s everyone. The Padres, the Twins, the Angels, the Ray’s…the Rangers, the Cardinals…on & on, bro.
Can someone name a team that *isn’t* hit hard with injuries right now?
It’s brutal. League wide.
It’s honestly taking some of the fun out of the season for me.
Good heavens.
What are these teams going to look like in *September* after playing over 130 games?
Ya know?
Hey.
Thanks for letting me work through all that.
The Dodgers have been hit harder by injuries than the Mets.
Bellinger (he’s played in four games), Seager, Rios, Pollock, and now Taylor currently out. Betts missed a week and Lux 10 days.
May, Gonsolin, Price, Knebel, Graterol, Alexander, Kelly, Ferguson, Kahnle.
Good teams don’t complain about injuries. They just plug the holes and stay focused on winning. Dave Roberts himself stated that a couple of days ago. Mets fans are always ready with excuses.
To my knowledge CLE has had few if any IL placements so far this year, and it’s a good thing because that team has zero depth.
Wait Soroka and Ynoa are out. Can’t miss that.
Great point!! And that’s also why the Dodgers stockpile talent.
I needed that laugh… thanks
Must be a slow season for conspiracy theory sites.
That’s funny
The Mets IL is a hoax is a new one for sure
Lindor batting leadoff and Pillar cleanup tonight is no hoax. A lot of pressure on Alonso and Smith batting 2-3. Lindor will come around but looks completely lost. It’s as if he’s gotten into his own head. On a 1-2 count, Fried throws three curveballs down and out of the strike zone. Lindor chases the last one, which was in the dirt. Hard stuff. Breaking stuff. At this point, no chance. Keith Hernandez commented over the weekend that he doesn’t look close to snapping out of it. Tonight he looks worse.
really now…
What a stupid comment
So to be clear, you are suggesting the team is making up injuries so they can put players on IL because those players to want to play? I just want to be sure we’re all following. The Dodgers must be using the same approach.
That’s “don’t” want to play
Conspiracy theories are getting tiring
Syndergaard, as I’ve stated numerous times in the past, needs to work back to full strength out of the bullpen.
Limit him to 30-40 pitches, use him as the second arm following an opener. This sets his schedule, limits expectations and protects him from himself. Once through the lineup and remove him for a pinch hitter. If he proves himself healthy, let him start a second time through.
With deGrom, Stroman, Walker, Peterson, Carrasco, Syndergaard, the emergence of Reid-Foley and the multiple inning work available from Gsellman, Lugo (soon), Lucchesi and Yamamoto, there is really no need to overwork ANYONE, including your bullpen guys.
A smart Rojas has the luxury of actually scheduling two starters daily and letting them both go through the lineup just twice, double switch them out, and maybe only need just one or two relievers a day.
As bad as the Mets need starting pitching I would use Thor to start in the pen.
The Mets need help in the Bullpen and guys never usually come back good the first year back from TJ so why not use him in a shorter role
I like your suggestion of starting TJS returners in the pen.
More teams should handle pitchers that way.
Noah and his agent probably wouldn’t like it though.
Not in a contract year.
It will be interesting to see which of the big four free agents the Mets will re-sign.
I say they sign 3 of the 4. If they prove they can compete this year (and I think they will), they’ll be willing to go over the cap for better or worse.
I agree, and with Conforto struggling, his contract won’t be as big as once thought. Also, there’s a chance Syndergaard takes a shorter deal to bump up his chances of a big, longer payday.
Degrom isn’t a FA… bro.. I’ve told you 50 times
Let’s be honest here ….. Syndergaard is nothing more than an injury waiting to happen. I agree with @canosucks …. this guy needs to start in the bullpen. Contract extension? This guy has to prove he can stay healthy …. nothing beyond 1-year guaranteed until he can prove some type of durability. The Mets committed $400 million between Lindor and James McCann this offseason …… how are those signings working out for you so far?????????
You think that 10 year deals can be make or break in the first 2 months ?
You would assume that the front end of his contract is where he’ll provide the most value, having a season as bad as this one puts him in a pretty big hole to play himself out of. So no, it’s not make or break in the first 2 months, but that certainly lowers the chances that he provides surplus value on that contract.
It’s good that you used nine question marks, @very berry. If you’d left it at a paltry four or five, we may have not understood your intent.
Solid punctuation game, man.
Thanks Ducky. I was thinking the question marks were getting jealous of the pause dots…. First 3, then 4, then 3 again, then 5. It just seems to smack of an author who is likewise jeaous that
That in spite of the injuries and in spite of the poor offensive production, the Mets still are a team sitting in first place in their division. Hard times ahead for them for sure, now with Pillar and Walker hurt for at least for tonight. But first place nonetheless. How did Luis Rojas manage to so that? The Braves are too good to be down for long, and the Marlins and Phillies are better than they were last year. It should be interesting.
That was a huge win last night by the Mets. That’s the thing with this team. Their pitching is so good that they’re winning these 1 or 2 run games consistently. They don’t look all that impressive with the slumping offense, but they’re winning close games. That’s the sign of a good team. The 90s Braves were like that too. The Mets have a long way to go to be the 90s Braves, but these 3-1, 2-1, 4-2 victories really remind me of that era.
Can someone give a guy credit for acquiring Sean Reid-Foley? This guy is saving this pitching staff right now.
Drew Smith has also looked REALLY good in his return.
Familia has at least not been terrifying, but I still wouldn’t count on him too heavily.
Diaz isn’t throwing enough strikes and skating by. The Braves just gave him the 9th last night. In case you missed it, he threw 7 out of 8 balls out of the strike zone including a 4 pitch walk. The next 2 hitters hit fly balls on the first pitch they both saw. Just a terrible fundamental approach when you are down a couple in the 9th and the pitcher hasn’t found the strike zone yet. That’s so very unBrave like.
I like Drew Smith as a long time Mets fan.
Jacob Barnes should be cut lose; he stunk with the Angels
Unless Diaz changes his fundamental way in which he throws the ball he will always be inconsistent to bad. He slings the ball with an off balance delivery.
Taijuan Walker left tonight’s game with an injury.
And Pillar…my goodness. That was hard to watch. I hope it’s just a broken nose. That shook me up, and I’m not even playing.
I don’t see the Mets letting him walk. If he shows he’s good, I can see them giving him a nice deal. With deGrom potentially opting out, Stroman a FA, Carrasco and Walker after next year, they need at least two of their top pitchers. Go with what you know – both are from the system.
@Padam. I absolutely see them letting him walk. He took himself out off the field by lifting weights because he wanted to throw the most 100+ mph pitches in the majors, missing an entire season when he was being counted on as the #2.
Then he has to have tjs after he returns and misses another year and a half.
He accelerated his work outs again to get back earlier than expected this year. I highly doubt he will put the team’s needs first the second half of 2021.
The Green Lantern is about to get wild
Mets MUST get Kris Bryant even if it costs 20 million, seriously!