New York Mets Get Bit By The Injury Bug Again vs Atlanta Braves

The New York Mets lost arguably their two best players Thursday as Noah Syndergaard was scratched and Yoenis Cespedes left the game early.

The New York Mets have been crushed by injuries in the early going of the 2017 season. Before the regular season even began they placed starting pitchers Steven Matz and Seth Lugo on the disabled list. Last week they also put Lucas Duda and Wilmer Flores on the DL.

The hits just kept coming on Thursday against the Atlanta Braves. Starting pitcher Noah Syndergaard was scratched from the start because of discomfort in his biceps. Syndergaard was originally slated to start last night, but the Mets elected to pitch Robert Gsellman.

Gsellman was supposed to start on Tuesday, but the game was rained out. There was a consideration to skip Gsellman and keep Syndergaard on his normal schedule. The Mets decided against it, and we now have a better idea of why they decided to move Syndergaard back.

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Syndergaard said that he felt strong enough to pitch on Thursday, but the Mets are going to take a cautious approach with their ace. He said that the irritation began a few days ago when taking anti-inflammatory medicine.

With Syndergaard being scratched, Matt Harvey was back on the mound Thursday and things did not go well. Harvey was expected to begin the series against the Washington Nationals tomorrow but started today on regular rest.

Harvey didn’t make it through five innings, as the Braves hit him hard. He was charged with six runs, allowing five hits and walking five. He had only one strikeout on the afternoon. Harvey was able to make it longer in the game than left fielder Yoenis Cespedes.

Cespedes was dealing with a hamstring injury last week. It was bad enough it kept him out of the weekend series against the Nationals. It looks like he may now miss this weekend’s series against the Nationals.

In the fourth inning, Cespedes hit a double to right-center field to lead off the inning. He barely made it to second base as he struggled to run according to Jared Diamond of Wall Street Journal Sports. According to Marc Craig of Newsday, SNY is reporting that it is another hamstring pull for Cespedes.

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This is a huge blow to a Mets team that is already struggling. Without their best everyday player and best starting pitcher, they could fall even further down the standings. Syndergaard’s injury does not seem as severe; it sounded like he wanted to pitch today. But Cespedes could be dealing with an injury worse than the hamstring ailment he had last week, which could result in a visit to the DL.

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