23 September, 2017
The Mets plan to have ace Noah Syndergaard make a one-inning start Saturday in his first major league game in almost five months. He will pitch against the NL East champion Washington Nationals.
Syndergaard, who will be followed in the game by previously scheduled starter Matt Harvey, tore his right lat in Washington almost five months ago, one start after he'd declined the team's request to undergo an MRI on a sore right biceps. "I was able to go out there through bullpens, play catch and start that game".
Thor had been on the disabled list since May 1 after tearing his right lat muscle on April 30.
"No. No regrets from me, really", Syndergaard said.
Syndergaard was 1-2 with a 3.29 ERA in five starts before getting hurt.
General manager Sandy Alderson said Friday the Mets want Syndergaard to get the feeling of being back on the mound.
Collins said that Thor will pitch again during the final week of the season if all goes well.
Harvey, who has been rocked for a 13.19 ERA since returning from his own DL stint with a shoulder issue, initially had been bumped up from Sunday to Saturday, with Jacob deGrom pushed back to the series finale due to an illness. There had been some speculation that the Mets could non-tender Harvey rather than pay him over $5 million in his final year of arbitration eligibility following an terrible 2017 campaign. Saturday would have been Matt Harvey's 100th career start but now it will technically be his first relief appearance.
