GONNA NEED A PANIC-URE!
Is another Syn finger woe cause for alarm?
MIAMI — A bone spur in his right elbow could not stop Noah Syndergaard all last season. The Mets’ 6-foot-6, long-haired, blond righthander who has embraced the persona of the Viking superhero has not been cowed by the big stage or bright lights of the World Series.
But Friday night, Syndergaard was stopped by his fingernails.
On a night the Mets needed their ace to step up and carry them through at least seven innings, Syndergaard was forced out after just six with torn fingernails on his right pointer and middle finger. The Mets bullpen, spent by having to throw 11.1 scoreless innings on Thursday night, gave up a walkoff win in the ninth as the Mets lost to the Marlins 3-2, snapping a fourgame winning streak. Josh Edgin gave up the walkoff, run-scoring double to J.T. Realmuto in the ninth and suffered the loss.
Syndergaard said this is an issue he dealt with frequently in the minor leagues, but he had not had a problem with it since he came to the majors in 2014. He said the fix is going to a nail salon and getting a fake, plastic nail glued on over the injured nails. He was hopeful it would not derail his next start, scheduled to be Thursday against the Phillies.
“I don’t really know where to go from here. It’s a weird thing to be discussing,” Syndergaard said. “It’s a problem I got to fix and maintain it. Hopefully I will be ready to go in five days.”
The small but significant injury to Syndergaard, once again highlighted how a team like the Mets built to win on their starting pitching can be derailed by small things. It also showed that the Mets would be wise to invest in another veteran arm in their bullpen sooner rather than later.
Friday night, Syndgeraard just seemed annoyed as he stared at the nails and admitted it was a “weird thing,” to be discussing in such detail.
“It happened on both my pointer finger and my middle finger,” Syndergaard said, examining his fingers as he spoke. “The pointer probably the third and the (middle) in the last inning to (Derek) Dietrich, I cut my fastball and just kind of felt something. I looked down and it was bleeding a little bit.
“There is nothing I can do about it,” Syndergaard continued. “It’s just unfortunate. I wanted to stay in the game as long as I can. It’s frustrating when little hiccups take you out of the game. After the ballgame last night, wanted to stay in there as long as I could to give our bullpen a break.”
And the Mets desperately needed Syndergaard to give them that break Friday.
After playing 16 innings on Thursday, of course the Mets bullpen was spent, but so was the lineup. Yoenis Cespedes had played all 16 frames the night before — and hit two home runs — while suffering from the flu. He pinch hit Friday but was out of the starting lineup and could not play in the field. Travis d’Arnaud needed help walking down the stairs to the visitors dugout after hitting a home run to end the marathon after five hours and 38 minutes. After catching 16 innings on Thursday, d’Arnaud was simply not available.
Friday night, the Mets’ offense was without some of its hot hands and their hopes were all on Syndergaard to get them deep into the game. But for the second time in three starts, he was hampered by a small finger issue. His Opening Day start was cut short by a blood blister on his middle finger. Friday night, the Mets were ready to let Syndergaard go 105 to 110 pitches, but with the small pain in his Sfinger in the sixth, he was stopped after 87. o after the game, Syndergaard found himself standing in the clubhouse awkwardly discussing his nail care regimen. He was clearly frustrated to have his night ended again by such a small but significant issue.
“If I keep my fingernails too short, I get a blister. If I keep it too long, the nail splits,” he explained, saying he had this issue a few times as he was coming up through the minor leagues. “It’s about finding that happy medium.”