Noah Syndergaard goes for second opinion and could reportedly miss three months
Noah Syndergaard could miss three months with his partial lat tear
By
Mike Axisa
•
2 min read
Earlier this week we learned New York Mets ace Noah Syndergaard has a partially torn lat muscle and will be out indefinitely. He left Sunday's start with the injury in the second inning. That happened only a few days after Syndergaard refused an MRI on his achy biceps.
Now, according to Joel Sherman of the New York Post, it seems Syndergaard could miss approximately three months with the injury. That would keep him out until August.
Syndergaard flying to L.A. to get 2d opinion on torn lat from Dr. Neal ElAttrache. Initial conservative estimates is he'll be out 3 months
— Joel Sherman (@Joelsherman1) May 3, 2017
The severity and location of the partial tear will determine Syndergaard's timetable. The Mets figure to be cautious either way, especially after the way things went down over the weekend, but a tear up near the shoulder could push them to be extremely conservative with his rehab. A tear lower in his rib cage could speed things up.
Either way, the Mets are suddenly scrambling for pitching with Syndergaard out. Here is the status of their rotation depth chart:
- Noah Syndergaard -- out indefinitely with a partial lat tear
- Jacob deGrom -- 2.84 ERA (148 ERA+) in 31 2/3 innings
- Matt Harvey -- 5.14 ERA (82 ERA+) in 35 innings as he comes back from thoracic outlet syndrome surgery
- Steven Matz -- has not pitched in 2017 due to an elbow injury
- Zack Wheeler -- 4.78 ERA (88 ERA+) in 26 1/3 innings as he comes back from Tommy John surgery
- Robert Gsellman -- 6.75 ERA (62 ERA+) in 26 2/3 innings
- Seth Lugo -- has not pitched in 2017 due to an elbow injury
Rafael Montero, who allowed eight runs (seven earned) in 6 2/3 relief innings earlier this season is slated to take over Syndergaard's rotation spot for the time being. The rotation, expected to be the Mets' strength, is not in great shape right now. Syndergaard is their best pitcher and they'll be without him for quite some time.
Not surprisingly, Mets general manager Sandy Alderson has said the team has looked into acquiring pitching help from outside the organization. Here's what he told Kristie Ackert of the New York Daily News:
"We have looked at that possibility, I would say yes, that this probably accelerates that process," Alderson said of getting pitching help. "I think we have to be realistic about what may be out there. As I said before there are some pitchers may be available who have not been pitching, would require a certain amount of time to ramp up and may not be available to us until about the time Matz and (Seth) Lugo are possibly back, but there may be some other possibilities.
"Certainly this changes that situation a little bit."
There usually aren't many trades made this early in the season, at least not many involving established big league players. The Mets should be able to find some Triple-A depth arms, players like that, but few teams are willing to throw in the towel and begin selling in early May. Alderson may not have no choice but the wait a few weeks to find pitching help.
For now, the Mets will have to get by without Syndergaard and hope he has a speedy recovery. Matz and Lugo are slowly working their way back from their injuries, so there is some help on the way.
