The initial news on the torn lat of Mets ace Noah Syndergaard is not terribly promising. As Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports on Twitter, “initial conservative estimates” place his expected absence at about three months.
Syndergaard, the hulking righty who has emerged as one of the game’s top starters, left his most recent outing with the injury. It wasn’t clear at the time just how long he’d be down, but it seems that the initial look from the doctors suggests a lengthy absence. Syndergaard is headed to visit Dr. Neal ElAttrache to obtain a secon opinion, per Sherman.
That’s devastating news for a Mets organization that is already scuffling through a poor start while dealing with other injuries. In particular, Steven Matz and Seth Lugo are already missing from the starting staff, making it even harder to cover for the loss of Syndergaard.
Of course, there’s really no replacing a pitcher like Syndergaard, who seemed on track to replicate his outstanding 2016 season. Before his disastrous final outing, when he left after 1 1/3 ineffective innings, Syndergaard had allowed just five earned runs over 26 frames while racking up thirty strikeouts without issuing a single walk.
That Syndergaard took the ball at all on Sunday has already turned into a sub-drama. He had been dealing with a biceps issue but declined to undergo an MRI. Whether that would’ve prevented the injury isn’t really clear, but the focus has remained on the handling of the situation by the righty and the organization.
Michael Macaulay-Birks
Torn Lat….I bet that was and is extremely painful
bastros88
not painful enough to get an MRI
reflect
Why would he need an MRI? He’s already in tune with his body.
acarneglia
Cause a guy who doesn’t know what a barber is knows more about his body than a professionally trained medical team
A'sfaninUK
Reflect was being sarcastic, but we all should continue piling on how dumb Noah and the Mets are.
scjohn92
Professionally trained medical team?!? Syndergaard plays for the Mets and is treated by their training staff, who don’t exactly have the best track record when it comes to treating players’ injuries.
CompanyAssassin
That’s what I’m here for
lesterdnightfly
acarneglia:
Obviously the weight of his hair caused an imbalance of his musculature and the resulting injuries. Sure…..
By your reasoning, the best pitchers would be Telly Savalas, Curly Howard, Bruce Willis, and Sinead O’Connor.
reflect
I’m a Mets fan, piling on about stupid things the Mets do is one of the few joys I have in life.
mikeyank55
Cheerleaders, not responsible management is what is present; wishful thinking rules over pragmatic reality. The Wilpon soap opera, “Flushing Cheap Streets” continues like the days of our lives
acarneglia
Team, staff it’s the same thing
BaseballisLife
The team wanted him to get an MRI for his bicep, which he tweaked in a game. He strained his lat muscle which is entirely unrelated to the bicep. His bicep is fine. No need for an MRI of that.
acarneglia
You can’t tell me that you think that hair looks good
lesterdnightfly
Still obsessed with someone else’s hair? Is perhaps the story of Samson triggering old wounds? Or vestigial tonsorial resentments ? Fear of ZZ Top? What Freud would call “Hirsuteness Envy”? Deep issues here….
If hair made a player better or worse, teams would employ coiffure artists and barbers.
acarneglia
I think Thors a great pitcher but the hair looks ridiculous
lesterdnightfly
That’s your fourth such post; I think you’ve made your obsessive point: Only people with the correct hair style are permitted to play the National Pastime without censure.
What’s your take on facial hair, tattoos, sideburns, length of pants, height of stirrups, angle of cap, eyeblack, et al.?
Never mind, we don’t want to know…..
acarneglia
It’s not obsessive I’m just responding to people. I’m not saying he’s not allowed to have it, I’m just saying it doesn’t look good. I don’t care what anybody does I’m just stating my own opinion
lesterdnightfly
Yes we know it’s your opinion. Stating it four times makes it obsessive. Drop it please, we all know how you feel.
acarneglia
I’m just responding to people
frankiegxiii
He must be obsessed with your responses to people, he keeps going on about it, drop it please…
Christopher Martin
Dam. And baseball this summer will be less entertaining for his absence. 🙁
A'sfaninUK
Exactly 🙁
Stop. Letting. Athletes. Who. Are. Not. Trained. Medical. Professionals. Have. Any. Say. In. How. Healthy. They. Are.
bluegorilla
Exactly.
Why. Should. Anyone. Have. A. Choice. About. Their. Own. Body? /sarcasm
No Soup For Yu!
I’d agree if it were a case of whether or not to get surgery or something more significant, but an MRI is literally harmless. There is no downside to it. Can you give me one good reason an athlete should refuse to get one?
lesterdnightfly
“Can you give me one good reason an athlete should refuse to get one?”
Well, an MRI’s magnetic pulses may affect one’s iron hammer, belt, and gloves. Definitely a factor when treating Norse Gods.
reflect
Lol. Well done
BaseballisLife
The team wanted Thor to get an MRI of his bicep, not the lat muscle that he strained. The MRI would not have revealed any damage to the lat because they would not have been looking at his lat. His bicep is fine by the way. Once he went down with the lat strain they did an MRI of both.
A'sfaninUK
The lat was the strain all along, his bicep was never an issue, the two are often confused by those who are not doctors.
yankees_fan74
When. Did. Using. Periods. After. Each. Word. Become. Popular. (I could really use a question mark there but periods are the new 40
hozie007
3 months is mid-Aug……he would then need 3-4 weeks to get stretched out….which puts him into mid-Sep. If the Mets aren’t within striking range of the playoffs, by Sep. 1, he’s likely done for the year.
RunDMC
They need to sell, unless by a miracle they have stayed competitive and need him. Harvey needs to be traded by the deadline and sell off some parts to revamp the offense. A future of (a healthy) Thor, deGrom, Matz, Gsellman is enough to compete, using Harvey and some other parts to retool the offense around someone other than Cespedes, especially when they don’t have him locked up long-term.
Metsfan93
What do you mean, they don’t have him locked up long-term? Cespedes is a Met through 2020 unless they trade him..
RunDMC
Hmm…sorry, for some reason I was thinking he had a opt-out clause. My mistake. Point still is they still need to quit depending totally on Cespedes for offense and get the man some help.
mikeyank55
Sure. Depend on Reyes, Granderson and David Wright.
More of the same fantasy land.
chesteraarthur
Matt Harvey has an era of 5.15 and a fip of 5.75. Unless he has some massive turn around, how do you figure he brings back any sort of piece(s) that would retool that lineup?
A'sfaninUK
This comment is so blind to its own problems it makes no sense. The Mets have a great squad, but they have horrendous medical staff and management. They have no real holes and Rosario is about to come up and take over SS for the next 7+ years.
Matt Hypey is done.
Dmalsch22
No real holes? Their 3rd baseman hasn’t played in 2 yrs. catchers can’t stay healthy, first baseman is garbage, degrome seems to be the only guy who can pitch 3/4 of a season. Bullpen leading up to familia is average. A left side of infield consisting of Reyes and Cabrera is not good. You can’t blame the medical staff, these are MLB players they know how to warm up correctly and workout correctly, they are fragile. The team as a whole is a hole
Dmalsch22
Not to mention the mets have been at the bottom of most offensive categories since 2015. They rely solely on pitching that can’t stay healthy. They are the definition of a team with real holes
vtadave
Agreed. Other than prospects, how many cornerstone type pieces do they have? Syndergaard, DeGrom, maybe Conforto given now well he’s playing. Rest are pretty mediocre/replaceable. At least they have a couple top MLB-ready prospects in Rosario and Smith.
mikeyank55
Hey Just…
He hasn’t played an inning and already you’ve ticketed Rosario for the next 7 years? He should grow his hair Long like the other Mets players who have priorities backwards. First perform and shut up. After many years if you have repeated success you will be regarded as all star caliber. Not one season, or a long time ago which is the case for most of the silly ideas you waste time with
thegreatcerealfamine
Plus the have an AARP member playing center!
lesterdnightfly
An AARP member playing center?
Just like Kansas Basketball with Perry Ellis….
mikeyank55
Striking range to what, 4th place?
Half the guys you mentioned are still working back from the DL or totally ineffective this year. They can’t take the back of their baseball card from 2015 and ask for the stats to be used again.
Harvey is worthless right now..nobody in their right mind would trade valuable pieces.
You may need to put on your ear buds and zone out listening to music because nobody here wants to listen to your make believe reality.
yankees_fan74
Much like the Mets Noah will be shut down this year
reflect
Lat injuries are commonly misdiagnosed as biceps related, so there’s a good chance his lat was the problem the entire time.
A'sfaninUK
Yeah, good thing an MRI would not have caught that.
Whoever let an idiot athlete say “I know my body, no MRI” and went “oh well you heard the guy!” needs to be fired and the team has to be able to fine or suspend players until they get one. This could have all been avoided and now we all lose. Noah is not a smart guy, it should have never been his call. I hated watching that game – how giddy the commentators were at the start were about how “tough” he was and how much of a “gamer” he was for denying it – dumbest thing I’ve heard happen in baseball in a while. Playing hurt =turning from elite into a replacement level player, no thanks, go on the DL you idiots.
Dmalsch22
It happens all the time to a lot of teams. It’s usually not a problem unless something like this happens. Pitchers don’t want MRIs and neither due the teams because you will always find some sort of tear in the shoulder of a pitcher no matter what, every pitcher has a rough looking shoulder.
A'sfaninUK
Oh its definitely a culture-wide thing, Harper has even done it a couple times. Players do not want to hear that the second their health drops below a certain point, they are worthless. It takes such a small amount of change for a hitters or pitchers technique to be totally thrown off.
outinleftfield
That would be Sandy Alderson.
BaseballisLife
No. Lat injuries are entirely unrelated to the biceps.
A'sfaninUK
Show your work
Joe Kerr
Isn’t this the injury that Jake Peavy had? I don’t think Thor’s is torn completely off the bone like Jake’s was but my point is that it is something that he should be able to rebound from.
CompanyAssassin
Yeah but at that time frame, you’ll be lucky to really see him in his normal form before the end of the season. 3-4 in may is late august-September
vinscully16
Do the Mets have a strength and conditioning coach? Is there no long term plan in place for Mets’ pitchers? Do the Mets employ any doctors, at all? Advisors? Do the Mets have access to the internet or casual gossip? The Mets organization has to be held to task regarding the endless run of injuries to their pitchers. Figure it out – how many times does this need to happen? Amateur hour.
Dmalsch22
Most MLB teams allow their players to do their own thing. When it comes working out and throwing programs apparently all teams but the twins and marlins and maybe a few more don’t interfere with what players are doing because most players go through a 3rd party trainer or program to prepare for the season and in season programs
BaseballisLife
All teams employ a training staff and they work with the player to develop a training regimen. Obviously the player has to carry on that training in the offseason and many, not all, employ a personal trainer. That personal trainer is there to help the player stick to the regimen that was developed by the player and the team’s training staff. The team is very involved in the training and conditioning of the players. Because of that the Mets staff can rightly be called into question for the rash of injuries their pitching staff has endured.
bastros88
they have bobby bonilla
mikeyank55
Still paying him as well. Too bad Bernie Madoff was convicted
CompanyAssassin
This is why players need to start thinking about their organizations over person preference. What you miss one start because you’re getting a MRI, maybe a few more to heal? Now you’ll lose way more than that. Like common sense people.
Dookie Howser, MD
Why would a player think of their organizations over themselves?
jd396
Because they’re not egotistical d-bags
BaseballisLife
His bicep is not injured. He was correct about that part of this. How and when he injured his lat is another story, but refusing an MRI for what amount to a tweak in his bicep is not an issue at all since the bicep is not injured.
CompanyAssassin
Not happy with his self diagnosed injury, Syndergaard consults his mirror for a second opinion.
brewcrewbernie
This is just a cover up. His father summoned him back to Asgard.
lesterdnightfly
Uff da !
BaseballisLife
Post of the Day! Bravo.
metseventually 2
Ssshhhhh! It’s a secret…
HubcapDiamondStarHalo
Wondering… Historically, how does an injury that costs a player this much time affect his salary when arbitration time rolls around? When he’s pitched, he’s obviously been brilliant. Do the arbitration people look at the numbers, the potential, the averages, or will the fact that due to injury, he doesn’t have as many wins or strikeouts to his credit count against him?
No Soup For Yu!
They’ll look at his numbers only from when he’s been healthy. Missed playing time like this can have a big effect on a player’s earning power early in his career. However, given how good Syndergaard has been when healthy, and he’s already made 50+ career starts with gaudy strikeout totals and a good number of wins, this will not cost him too much money in arbitration this winter (He’ll be a Super 2).
mikeyank55
Until he pitches again to the former level, he will NOT earn what he was expecting to!
BaseballisLife
Because of how high his ceiling has been when he has pitched and the fact that this type of injury is not typically a long term recovery like a shoulder or TJ, it will not effect his earning power much. He will pitch again in 2017 and he is going to get paid handsomely in arbitration.
HubcapDiamondStarHalo
Wondering further… Somebody speculated that the injury and ramp-up time could cost him the season (due to complications or the Mets just being cautious for them being out of contention by the time Syndergaard is healthy). How much would something like that affect his arb ruling?
BaseballisLife
Thor’s bicep is just fine. If that were the only issue he would be pitching today. The lat strain is completely unrelated to the bicep and was probably a result of his 100% effort delivery. When are kids going to learn that its not all about velocity. Learn to command your fastball and a 93-95 mph offering can be just as effective as a 96-98 mph FB. Its about placement. Pitch smarter, not harder.
TradeAcuna
This baffling comment along with two people who liked it is just….baffling. Of course his weak bicep influenced the damage to his lat muscles. You even said in that same post, the injury was a result of max effort, which in part led to the tear, due to his weak biceps. Your entire body in one mechanism. He tried to compensate for his injured biceps so he damaged his lat muscles.
metseventually 2
Lol
jd396
Second opinion? Just ask someone who’s in tune with his body, see what he thinks.
slider32
I think this all goes back two years ago when the Mets were thinking of going with a six man rotation in May or June and decided agains’t it. Since that time they got Cespedes at the deadline and took off. This caused them to over use their young starters all the way on to the world series. Another problem was that the Mets had all young pitchers at the same time, they needed an establihed pitcher to balance out their roation which they kind of had with Colon. Two years ago Harvey’s agent Boris was trying to get him shut down and look at him now. The Mets should have planned better with their young pitchers so they wouldn’t have been overused. Now they are suffering the consequences. I think other teams like the Cubs who built their team aroung young position players and aquired pitchers at different times might be the way to go. I also like the idea of a six man rotation since most teams use more than 5 starters every season. Pitchers only pitch once a week in high school and college for the most part, i would like to see somebody try it. The Mets used poor judgement with both Syndergaard and Cespedes , Mets should have made him take the MRI and MLB Network showed Cespedes hurting while taking batting practice before he got hurt.
lesterdnightfly
“Two years ago Harvey’s agent Boris was trying to get him shut down”
Actually, the person behind all that was Natasha.
fisher40
Classic example of a guy who pitches harder and not smarter
yankees_fan74
Bellinger is for real
yankees_fan74
Oops wrong story