With the MLB season still on hold, injury news broke Tuesday afternoon pertaining to New York Mets pitcher Noah Syndergaard. Jeff Passan of ESPN reports that Syndergaard has a torn ulnar collateral ligament and will undergo Tommy John surgery.
Due to the long-term recovery required for the surgery, Syndergaard will likely be out until the middle if 2021. He and Marcus Stroman were expected to be a favorable two-three duo behind Jacob deGrom in the Met rotation.
Despite the circumstances surrounding society and the COVID-19 pandemic, Syndergaard’s surgery is scheduled for Thursday.
New York Mets starter Noah Syndergaard has a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow and is expected to undergo Tommy John surgery in the near future, sources tell ESPN. The procedure will keep him out until at earliest April 2021 and likely into the summer months.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) March 24, 2020
Injury News Continues
Syndergaard joins a growing list of starting pitchers opting to receive this surgery while the season is still on hold. Last Thursday, the Boston Red Sox announced that Chris Sale would also undergo the surgery. On the same day, the San Francisco Giants announced the same fate for pitcher Tyler Beede.
Before the season was suspended, Luis Severino of the New York Yankees, underwent the surgery, bringing the total to four pitchers in the last month that have needed it. Additionally, Justin Verlander of the Houston Astros underwent an operation on his groin, keeping him sidelined while players await the resumption of the season.
Noah Syndegaard Career
This is not the first major injury for Noah Syndergaard, who missed significant time with a torn lat in 2017. He only pitched 30.1 innings that season. Additionally, he has dealt with various setbacks, including a finger injury and hand, foot, and mouth disease in 2018.
Syndergaard was entering his sixth season in MLB. His 47-39 record with a 3.31 ERA with 9.7 K/9 and 4.67 K/BB show that he has pitched effectively. However, he is years removed from his best season in 2016.
That year he had a 2.60 ERA in 183.2 innings and allowed the fewest home runs per nine innings. He was an All-Star and eighth in the Cy Young Award voting that year.
Instead, he is coming off the worst season of his career with a 4.28 ERA in just under 200 innings. He allowed the most earned runs of any pitcher in 2019 and had career worsts in nine statistical categories.
Now Syndergaard will have to wait another year to get his career back on track.
Main Photo: Embed from Getty Images
