METS PEN A SAD STORY
Noah’s a man of mystery on hammy
ATLANTA — The extent of Noah Syndergaard’s hamstring injury remains a mystery, for now. The Mets starter sustained what the team is calling a “low grade hamstring strain” during his outing Saturday against the Cardinals. He grabbed his right hamstring and limped off the mound with a trainer in the seventh inning.
Since exiting in obvious discomfort and subsequently landing on the 10- day injured list, Syndergaard has avoided speaking to reporters.
On Saturday, Syndergaard was in the Mets clubhouse after the game when he was seen bolting for the exit doors. Mets PR announced he was getting treatment and would not be made available for comment. Mets manager Mickey Callaway, too, remained curt in his description for the level of concern over Syndergaard’s injury. On Sunday, Callaway said he had not yet received Syndergaard’s MRI results.
Nearly 48 hours since sustaining the injury, Syndergaard and Mets PR confirmed he would discuss the topic on Monday in the visitor’s dugout of SunTrust Park. After hours of waiting around fruitlessly, a Mets official said something came up and Syndergaard would speak to reporters following Monday night’s game.
Holding your breath for that injury report seems like an unwise decision given Syndergaard’s recent track record of being held accountable and sticking to the plan.
In the interim, Callaway’s sterile and vague details of Syndergaard’s hamstring strain are at one’s disposal. But the timetable on Syndergaard’s return is as ambiguous as ever.
“Obviously he will miss the next start, so we put him on the IL, and then continue to evaluate from there,” Callaway said on Monday. When asked if Callaway believes Syndergaard will miss just one or two starts, he
said, “It’s hard to predict at this point. We’re just going to treat him today and go from there.”
The Mets skipper was unable to confirm who will start in Syndergaard’s place for the Mets’ series opener against the Cubs on Thursday night in Chicago. Callaway said the Mets are weighing “several internal options” including relievers in the big-league bullpen, along with some minor leaguers.
Righthander Wilmer Font is the likeliest candidate to start in Syndergaard’s place. The 6-foot-4, 250-pounder most recently pitched three scoreless innings of relief against the Cardinals on Sunday. Font improved his season ERA to 4.98 following the 55-pitch mop-up outing that included one walk and three strikeouts.
On the flip side, Font is 0-1 with a 7.84 ERA in three starts and 10.1 innings for the Mets. The team has not used Font as a spot-starter since May 20 against the Nationals, when he gave up two earned runs on three hits and three strikeouts, while issuing an alarminglyhigh four walks over four innings pitched.
“The fact that he got to throw the amount of pitches he threw, kind of stretched out, it definitely puts his name on the radar for that,” Callaway said of Font starting Thursday.
Seth Lugo is not an option to start for the Mets. Callaway said the right-hander’s name has not been mentioned when discussing Thursday’s spot-starter. Lugo is open about his desire of one day becoming a starter and he’s certainly pitching like one from the Mets bullpen. The 29year-old has not allowed a run in his last 8.1 innings while hurling 12 strikeouts. Lugo has allowed just one run in his last 21.2 innings (0.42 ERA) dating to April 22.
“I think he’s so valuable in his role right now it’d be tough to take him out of that,” Callaway said.