Noah Syndergaard placed on DL as Mets' miserable May continues
A rough month of May just got worse for the New York Mets.
The club announced Tuesday that pitcher Noah Syndergaard has been played on the 10-day disabled list after experiencing soreness in his right index finger. Syndergaard was examined Tuesday at The Hospital for Special Surgery in Manhattan. An MRI revealed a strained ligament in the finger, the Mets said.
Syndergaard’s DL stint is retroactive to May 26, the day after his last start. He was scheduled to pitch Wednesday in Atlanta. His replacement has yet to be determined.
Back to the DL
Syndergaard is no stranger to the disabled list. The 6-foot-6 righty missed five months last season after tearing his right lat muscle in just his fifth start of the year. He returned for two brief outings late last year before returning to the rotation to start this year.
Syndergaard hasn’t been quite as dominant as in years’ past, but he’s still been very effective for the Mets. In 64 2/3 innings pitched (11 starts), Syndergaard is 4-1 with a 3.06 earned run average and has struck out 76 while walking just 13.
He has held down the No. 2 spot in the rotation for behind Jacob deGrom, who leads the National League with a 1.52 ERA.
The injuries are piling up again
The disabled list is getting really crowded for the Mets.
Syndergaard joins slugging left fielder Yoenis Cespedes (hip), center fielder Juan Lagares (foot), third baseman Todd Frazier (hamstring), catcher Travis d’Arnaud (Tommy John surgery) and relievers AJ Ramos (shoulder) and Anthony Swarzak (oblique) on the disabled list. Lagares and d’Arnaud, both starters, are not expected to return to the field this year.
Mets fans are getting way too accustomed to this. In addition to Syndergaard, the Mets lost Cespedes, David Wright, Matt Harvey, Steven Matz, Zack Wheeler, Jeurys Familia and others for significant periods of time last season.
The Mets have had a miserable month
The Mets started the season with a bang, winning 11 of their first 12 games. They fell back down to earth a bit as April progressed, but entered May atop the National League East at 17-9.
May has been a much different story. Entering Tuesday night’s game in Atlanta, the Mets are one game above .500 at 26-25 overall, putting their record for this month at a miserable 9-16. The team got above the .500 mark with an 8-5 win over the Braves late Tuesday night in the second game of a day-night doubleheader that ended around 1:30 a.m.
Before the win, the Mets had dropped six of their previous seven games, including four straight. Earlier in the month, the team endured a six-game losing streak.
The Mets sit in fourth place in the NL East behind the Braves, Washington Nationals and Philadelphia Phillies. Those three teams are within one game of each other in the standings.
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Sam Cooper is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him or follow him on Twitter!
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