Baseball hasn’t started yet and the Mets are already getting bad news. Noah Syndergaard is one of the faces of the franchise. New York has leaned on their starting pitching and Thor is one of the centerpieces of the rotation. Welp… not anymore. Noah Syndergaard needs Tommy John surgery and will presumably miss the next 12-15 months of action.
Jeff Passan of ESPN was the first to report the news:
The Mets later followed up and announced Thor will undergo surgery and will be out until April of 2021 at the earliest:
The Tommy John phenomenon has struck 3 talented starters in recent weeks. Luis Severino, Chris Sale, and now Noah Syndergaard have all been hit. There is no other way to put it. This is devastating news to the Mets. This is the type of injury that swings a division race. The Mets could easily be a 4th place team now in that division.
If there is a positive, the Mets did sign some depth starting pitching this offseason. Rick Porcello and Michael Wacha were signed. Both are going to be needed now that Syndergaard is down for the count. The Mets also have Walker Lockett, Stephen Gonsalves, Franklyn Kilome, Erasmo Ramirez, and Corey Oswalt in the organization. Neither of those guys are proven.
Noah Syndergaard didn’t have a great 2019 but it makes more sense. Who knows when he actually tore his UCL. The year prior, Syndergaard had a 3.03 ERA compared to 4.28 in 2019. At his peak, Thor is one of the most dominant starters in the sport. Nobody throws harder from the left side than the Mets starter. This isn’t someone you can just replace.
