THOR’S RETURN UNCERTAIN:
Mets ace Noah Syndergaard is happy with the progress he’s made while rehabbing his partially torn lat muscle. But he has “no clue” when he will resume throwing, and there remains no prospective date for his return to the big leagues.
“It’s just a very specific injury,” Syndergaard told the Daily News Monday evening at a Gotham Magazine event in Brooklyn. “So there’s really no timetable.”
Syndergaard said he’s been focusing on lower-body exercises and conditioning in the weeks since suffering his injury.
“I’m actually very pleased with how quickly it’s recovering,” Syndergaard said. “It kind of sucks that I’m injured right now, but there are a lot of other things that I can focus on in terms of training, so when it is time to come back, I’ll be better than ever.”
The hard-throwing righthander was first scratched from his scheduled start April 27 because of bicep tendinitis. Syndergaard then refused to undergo an MRI on his arm, and three days later took the mound for a Sunday afternoon contest against the division-rival Nationals. He allowed five runs in 1.1 innings before sustaining the partial tear of his lat on a pitch in the second.
The team placed Syndergaard on the 10-day DL May 1 after an MRI revealed the tear. They transferred him to the 60-day DL a week later — making it highly unlikely he will return before the All-Star break.
The Mets, meanwhile, have spiraled downward since Syndergaard’s injury. They lost seven games in a row from May 10-17 and sit at 18-24 after a home series victory over the Angels this past weekend.
“It really kind of sucks,” Syndergaard said of watching his team’s struggles. “But it’s just all about being present in the clubhouse. I’m at every game. I just want to be around the guys. It’s something that’s kind of a first-time thing for me, being on the DL. So I think being around the team will be very important.”
Syndergaard appears on the cover of the late spring issue of Gotham Magazine, and Monday’s event at 1 Hotel Brooklyn Bridge was held in honor of his cover story.
Syndergaard auctioned off a number of autographed memorabilia and collectibles to benefit the Sjogren’s Syndrome Foundation, his primary philanthropy effort.
Syndergaard’s mother was diagnosed with Sjogren’s Syndrome — an immune system disorder — a couple years ago.
“It’s just really nice to be able to do something nice for my mom,” Syndergaard said. “It’s just totally all about spreading awareness for that. It’s just a huge honor to be here.”