It turns out that a bout of hand, foot, and mouth disease will only cost a big league pitcher one start. New York Mets’ righty Noah Syndergaard, who was placed on the disabled list with the disease most commonly found in children last week, is expected to be activated on Wednesday. Syndergaard is scheduled to start against the Washington Nationals on Wednesday, his first start since allowing one run in five innings against the New York Yankees on July 20th.
The Mets need Syndergaard to stay healthy in the second half to show a glimpse of what he actually can do on the field after two injury wrecked years. Syndergaard is 6-1 with a 2.89 ERA in 13 starts this season, but missed over six weeks of action after straining a tendon in his right index finger back in May. That injury came after Syndergaard missed most of last season with a torn lat, giving him only 20 big league starts in two seasons. There had been talk that the Mets would be willing to shop Syndergaard in order to try and get the kind of major league ready talent that the franchise is lacking, but his lack of health has likely brought his value down for now.
There is also the matter of a sudden drop in Syndergaard’s velocity in his last start, which fell by a few miles per hour in the middle innings. Syndergaard and the Mets are both attributing that dip to the symptoms of hand, foot, and mouth disease, which can cause trouble breathing and lead to fatigue quickly. If they are right, Syndergaard should look more like his normal self when he toes the rubber at Nationals Park Wednesday afternoon. The Mets need to see a lot more outings like that in order to feel confident in either Syndergaard’s ability to be a part of their long term future or to be a chip they need to bring in the talent to help make the future better.
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