Noah doubt, this looks bad for GM
A TLANTA — We’ll never know what the phantom MRI exam on Noah Syndergaard’s right arm or even his latissimus dorsi muscle would have shown, but to use a Sandy Alderson pet phrase, the Mets are guilty of bad optics.
In this case, the optics involved the Mets’ ace pitcher avoiding testing on his sore biceps, the general manager of the team later joking that he couldn’t tie down Syndergaard and force him into the MRI tube and the pitcher taking the ball in Washington on Sunday and departing the mound at Nationals Park with a partially torn lat that will keep him sidelined for an extended period.
One perception that needs to be cleared up is the idea Alderson acquiesced to hi s star pitcher. The Mets have too much riding on Syndergaard’s right arm to let a 24-year-old who might actually believe he is the superhero Thor dictate medical protocol.
But Alderson is guilty of dropping his guard, after a pain-free bullpen session by Syndergaard and the pitcher’s assertion he was ready for Sunday, when every bone in the GM’s body should have told him there was potential danger lurking.
Again, who knows what the phantom MRI exam would have shown, if anything, but a team that has preached caution with handling these precious powerful arms should have stuck to the script and taken a closer look.
Only adding to the bad optics was Monday’s contention by Alderson that the doctor indicated there is no connection between Syndergaard’s biceps soreness and the torn lat. On a technical basis, this might be true, but should we believe Syndergaard didn’t overcompensate for his biceps soreness by putting more strain on the lat?
“I think that is something we’ll never know,” Alderson said at SunTrust Park, before the Mets beat the Braves 7-5. “He was throwing 100 mph in the first inning. Was that because he was trying to show some of us that he was fine? I don’ t know the answer to that. “I sincerely believe that Noah felt he was fine. There would be no reason for him to say otherwise. So on that basis, to some extent, we relied on that.”
Of course, the Mets would have a better chance of receiving the benefit of the doubt if this whole thing wasn’t so emblematic of the organization over the last decade-plus.
Alders on’s duties upon assuming there ins before the 2011 season included cleaning up the communication between players, medical staff, field staff, front office and public relations officials, but breakdown sa re still occurring.
The Mets have had their share of medical controversy in Alderson’s regime, probably starting with Johan Santana’s no-hitter in 2012 in which the lefty was allowed by manager Terry Collins to throw 137 pitches. Santana’s surgically repaired shoulder was shot soon thereafter. There have been peaks and valleys since in the front office’s handling of injuries.
“When I came to the Mets that was one of the criticisms, that we have injuries, we didn’t explain injuries, we were too optimistic about when players would come back,” Alderson said. “Here we are seven years later and the same accusations are being made. I think it’s a little overblown.”
Overhauling the training staff would be a cosmetic change, at best. Instead, the Mets need to change their approach and eliminate as much of the gray area as possible that leads to wrong choices.
“We get criticized for injuries and probably disproportionately to the circumstances ,” Alders on said .“Look, if I say somebody is going to be back in 10 days and they’re back in 15, do you think there’s a motivation on my part?”
But there is the unspoken pressure to sell tickets. And are fans — all other factors being equal — more likely to buy advance tickets for a game in which they might see Yoenis Cespedes at Citi Field or one in which he’s on the disabled list?
Now it’s Syndergaard who won’t be performing at Citi Field any time soon.