New York Mets: Syndergaard and Matz Injured, What Does it Mean?
The New York Mets have been competing with the likes of the Nationals and Marlins in a competitive NL East, but what significance will the most recent injuries to Noah Syndergaard and Steven Matz have on the club?
The Mets rotation was supposed to be one of, if not the best, starting five in major leagues. Up to this point, their rotation has not been historic, but it still can hold it’s own with any rotation they will face. However, two of their top starting pitchers are reported to have arm issues.
According to Kristie Ackert of the New York Daily News, Noah Syndergaard and Steven Matz both are treating bone spurs in their pitching elbows. Currently, the Mets aren’t publicly acknowledging Syndergaard’s injury at Syndergaard’s request, tweets Mike Puma of the New York Post.
However, the Mets are a bit more open of their decision making process regarding their 25 year-old left-hander.
"“Basically, after that last start (Friday against the Braves), he felt tightness in his elbow. We had him looked at again this morning by Dr. (David) Altchek, including an MRI, and there are no issues with the ligament,” Mets assistant general manager John Ricco said. “He did say he had tightness, had trouble finishing his pitches. The question now is whether he continues to pitch through that or not. We are in a decision window to whether he is going to make his next start.”"
Matz also spoke about his meetings with the doctors about his left elbow, even though he is not as sure what’s going arm with his arm.
"“I don’t know the exact medical term,” Matz said when asked what the doctors told him was causing the discomfort. He added that the MRI he had Monday showed no “structural damage.”"
(Quotes from the New York Daily News)
While Eckert’s article did add that this is more of an issue of discomfort rather than preventing further injury, this should still concern Mets fans with how these bone spurs will affect their clubs’ starting rotation.
The elbow injury may cause Matz and Syndergaard to miss a start or two, many pitchers have been able to work through bone spurs and stay on their scheduled pitching assignments, but while both may be able to continue to pitch and not miss much time, their performance could be affected by the discomfort in their elbow. In fact, Syndergaard was just recently lit up by the Washington Nationals yesterday before leaving the game in the fourth inning.
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Hopefully this does not become a common occurrence for the dominant 23 year-old, this is something that the Mets coaches and management needs to keep in mind as the season wears on.
Both pitchers performances should be heavily monitored by the Mets for this rest of the season, and it will be interesting to see of these injuries greatly impact the performances of both starters.
This is a rather disappointing development for New York because Syndergaard and Matz were probably the best and most consistent pitchers on their roster.
Syndergaard would be heavily considered for the NL Cy Young if Clayton Kershaw wasn’t having one of the best seasons he’s ever had. He has an ERA that sits just above 2.00 and is almost striking out an impressive 11 batters per nine innings.
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Matz has been a bit more of a surprise coming off of a 2015 season where he was sidelined with injury after showing some great potential. The lefty has been able to build on that in 2016 by pitching to a 3.29 ERA and a FIP of 2.91. He also has a very solid 4.87 strikeout-walk ratio.
If the Mets hope to even sniff a World Series or a division title for that matter, the team needs Syndergaard and Matz in close to top form. These injuries should not keep them off the field, but it could negatively affect their performance as they adjust to throwing the ball with bone spurs in their elbow.
New York needs to take a cautious approach. They should rest these guys if need be and not force the action hoping for immediate results because the long-term outlook of this season is much more important than how they play in the final stretch of June.
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