Noah Syndergaard is returning to a familiar place: The injured list.
The hard-throwing right-hander, who underwent an MRI exam on his strained right hamstring Sunday morning, has now been shelved each of the past three years.
He made just 32 starts the past two seasons combined and has struggled this year, pitching to a 4.55 ERA. It remains to be seen how much time he will miss after the injury led to his exit in the seventh inning of Saturday’s win over the Cardinals.
Syndergaard told reporters “it’s very mild,” before excusing himself from the clubhouse. He has yet to address the injury in detail. The Mets are planning to reveal the results of the MRI on Monday, a team spokesperson said.
“It’s actually more concerning for a position player trying to come back. It’s probably a little easier for a pitcher,” manager Mickey Callaway said about hamstring injuries before the Mets dropped the series finale, 4-3. “The mechanism that’s going to hurt your hammy more times than not is running. It’s a little bit easier on a pitcher than a position player, who has to run sprints.”
The Mets activated Robinson Cano (left quad tightness) to fill Syndergaard’s spot on the roster.
It’s uncertain where the Mets will turn to fill Syndergaard’s spot in the rotation. He was scheduled to pitch Thursday against the Cubs.
Callaway said it is unlikely prospect Anthony Kay will get a chance, since he was just promoted to Triple-A Syracuse and has made only one start there. Wilmer Font, used out of the bullpen since Jason Vargas returned from the IL, could be an option. In three starts, Font allowed nine earned runs over 9 ¹/₃ innings pitched and failed to record an out in the fifth inning in any of the appearances, but he did throw three scoreless innings on Sunday.
Another possibility is veteran Ervin Santana. He allowed three earned runs and four hits over five innings on Sunday for Syracuse after making three starts for Single-A Port St. Lucie.
“We have options,” Callaway said. “We haven’t decided exactly what we’ll do at this point, but we definitely have options in the organization.”