A day later, Noah Syndergaard’s arm was still only tired, leaving his team hopeful that he will be able to resume throwing right after the All-Star break. Yoenis Cespedes’ quad was still hurting, but the Mets think he might be able to bat Sunday, in the final game before the break.
It will be a true break for both of them because Major League Baseball announced Saturday that neither will play in the All-Star Game. Syndergaard will still make the trip to San Diego, where he will be monitored by team staffers accompanying National League manager Terry Collins.
All told, it qualified as a “no news is good news” afternoon for the club, which had been shaken Friday by the fact that both all-stars had to leave the game — hours after it was confirmed that Matt Harvey will undergo season-ending surgery.
Syndergaard’s case was most puzzling, when he suddenly starting throwing fastballs that registered only 92 or 93 miles per hour instead of the 98 with which he had begun the 3-1 loss to the Nationals at Citi Field.
“I’ve never seen anything like that before, where there’s no ill feeling beforehand,” pitching coach Dan Warthen said. Collins added that when a pitcher experiences “dead arm” syndrome, it usually does not flare up in the middle of an outing.
But, before Saturday night’s game, the manager said there was no change in the diagnosis. “The tests that they put on him last night, with the description he gave to the doctors, they are talking about fatigue more than anything. There was no discomfort, there was absolutely no stiffness, there was no pain, no twinge, anything,” Collins said.
A first-time all-star, Syndergaard will attend the game and probably play catch while he is out there. “Give him some rest and we’ll resume the process. Hopefully he’ll be fine,” Collins said, adding that when the season resumes Friday in Philadelphia, “I’m sure that first day he will go out and throw on the side to see how he feels.”
The club will keep its fingers crossed that no other symptoms or problems develop, as they have with other pitchers whose conditions did not seem serious at first “We have nothing else to go on except what the doctors have said, ‘Look, he’s just tired,’ ” Collins said.
Cespedes still was bothered by the strained right quadriceps he sustained in the field Friday night. The manager said Saturday, “He’s pretty sore today. As much as I’d like to try to use him to hit, I’m not sure I can today. I might be able to, tomorrow. We’re going to try to nurse this and see what happens the next three or four days and hopefully when we come out of the break, he’s able to play.”
..... - Newsday