Noah Syndergaard, after cruising through his Tommy John rehab for the past 14 months, re-aggravated his pitching elbow and is shut down from throwing at least until the All-Star break.
Syndergaard underwent an MRI that revealed inflammation in his right elbow, Mets manager Luis Rojas announced on Thursday. On the bright side, there was no structural damage to his UCL. But the right-hander, who was on the precipice of returning to the Mets, will not throw for at least the next six weeks.
“We pray that he can pitch for us this year,” Rojas said.
The 28-year-old underwent Tommy John surgery in March 2020 and last pitched in a major-league game on Sept. 29, 2019. He will become a free agent this offseason, putting his return to Queens in question. It’s possible Syndergaard’s final days in a Mets uniform are behind him.
Rojas would not say whether the Mets organization is confident Syndergaard can pitch again in the majors this season.
He pitched two rehab assignments for the Low-A St. Lucie Mets this month, hurling 95 mph fastballs across four scoreless innings in his first outing, and was expected to make his 2021 debut in June. That outlook quickly crumbled when Syndergaard was pulled from his most recent start after just one inning, with reports of his velocity diminishing to 89 mph. He was scheduled for just 4-5 additional rehab assignments before he left his start Tuesday with pain in his right elbow.
“As tough as it is for us to hear, I can’t imagine how tough it is for him, who did a solid job the whole time just to be at the point that he was before he got stopped,” Rojas said. “This guy works really hard. He was in unbelievable shape. He was throwing the ball like you expect him to throw the ball, with all the force he has, and probably that caused this to happen.”
Syndergaard flew from Port St. Lucie on Wednesday and joined the Mets in New York. As of Thursday morning, Rojas had not yet spoken to the right-hander following his setback and Syndergaard has not spoken to reporters throughout his rehab from UCL surgery.
The Mets were counting on Syndergaard to slot into a rotation that includes Jacob deGrom, Marcus Stroman, Taijuan Walker and David Peterson. With Carlos Carrasco (right hamstring strain) still limited to conditioning and long toss activities (he has not thrown off the mound since he was transferred to the 60-day injured list on May 6), the Mets will either need someone like Joey Lucchesi to step up and be their fifth starter for the foreseeable future, or they’re in the market for a starting pitcher.
May has been a nightmare month for the Mets, with 17 players on the injured list and several of them everyday starters or position players. Syndergaard’s Tommy John setback is just the latest blow in a succession of disappointments.
Still, the Mets’ always-optimistic manager looked on the positive side. His team entered its Thursday doubleheader in first place, somehow winning 13 of its 22 games this month using a lineup that better resembles a minor-league squad. Rojas has liked the attitude from his players, even as they’re delivered bad news after bad news.
“The last couple of weeks and the last few days, I learned a lot of things of this group,” Rojas said. “No one is putting their head down. Everyone is moving forward. These guys have been brave about the adversities, the situation and guys going down. I’ve never seen anything like this, but at the same time, I’ve never seen a group react to something like this, so atypical, happening to a group of players, to a baseball team.”
