The New York Mets’ season is going south in a hurry. The team has, before Tuesday’s games, lost seven of their last ten contests, and they are currently in the midst of a rough stretch in the calendar, seeing a lot of the Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Francisco Giants.
The good thing for the Mets is that despite their 59-59 record, they are still relatively close to a playoff spot via the NL East top spot. New York is just 3.5 games behind the Atlanta Braves for the division lead.
One potential avenue to improve the team would be getting some of the injured players back, most notably Jacob deGrom and Noah Syndergaard. The latter was close to returning in June-July from his Tommy John surgery performed last spring, but suffered a setback that pushed back his timeline.
At this point, the Mets’ fireballer is scheduled to throw live batting practice on Tuesday for the first time since resuming his rehab, according to Mike Puma of The New York Post.
The Mets will proceed cautiously
He needs to go through that step without consequences for him to restart a rehab assignment. Per SNY, the length of that assignment, should he make it that far, would depend on the role Syndergaard will fulfill with the Mets.
It should be noted that back on July 26, Mets’ acting general manager Zack Scott mentioned the possibility of Syndergaard returning as a reliever instead of as a starter. The executive confirmed that sentiment in August.
If he returns with the idea of helping in the bullpen in mind, he could get back to the Mets’ first team much faster than if he is stretched out to be a rotation piece. New York could use an upgrade in both areas.
In case he returns as a reliever, the Mets could be looking at an early September return. Mid-September is more likely if he comes back as a starter.