New York Mets: Sandy Alderson Says He Allowed Noah Syndergaard To Start

New York Mets general manager Sandy Alderson said it was his decision to start Noah Syndergaard on Sunday.

The New York Mets had a bad week. The heart and soul of their offense, left fielder Yoenis Cespedes, was placed on the disabled list because of a hamstring injury. The Mets DL is already filled with important players, such as Steven Matz, Seth Lugo, and David Wright. The Mets’ DL will be getting another big named addition.

Ace starting pitcher Noah Syndergaard will be placed on the 10-day DL after an MRI revealed that he has a partial tear in his lat muscle on his right side. Injuries happen, but this one is a peculiar situation because of what happened earlier in the week.

The Mets kept pushing back Syndergaard’s starts to begin the week. He was going to start Wednesday, with Robert Gsellman being skipped, but the Mets decided to start Gsellman. Then Matt Harvey, who was slated to start Friday, was moved up to Thursday as Syndergaard was scratched that morning; Harvey would subsequently get shelled.

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Syndergaard was dealing with some biceps tendonitis and the team wanted him to go for an MRI. Syndergaard refused, saying that he is in tune with his body, and that was his reason for not taking the MRI. Now both parties look dumb, as Syndergaard will be sidelined well beyond the 10 days with the partially torn lat.

Plenty of blame can be placed around, but general manager Sandy Alderson took some responsibility. On Monday, he said that he was the one who made the decision to start Syndergaard on Sunday.

"“It was my decision for Noah to pitch with input with [a] variety of different sources,” Alderson said Monday. “The MRI was not dismissed out of hand, and we had to evaluate the situation. … From the overall standpoint, it is not to say things couldn’t have been done differently. From my standpoint, I made the decision.”"

This is bizarre, as the decision probably should have laid with manager Terry Collins. Alderson, who isn’t with the team every day like Collins is, making the decision makes little sense. To make matters worse, Alderson believes that Syndergaard will be sidelined a considerable amount of time.

Alderson also said that the lat injury that will sideline Syndergaard is not connected to the biceps and shoulder discomfort that he felt earlier in the week.

"“The doctor has said there wasn’t any connection, there isn’t any connection, between what happened and a possible bicep injury. That’s all I can go on,” Alderson said."

Alderson can relay what the doctor said, but it is hard to imagine that the two injuries aren’t related. There is no doubt that the strength of the muscles in that area was weakened by the discomfort that he dealt with earlier in the week.

Had Syndergaard underwent an MRI when the Mets originally wanted him to, this could have all been avoided. They could have spotted something wrong with the lat before it was injured to the point that it is now. Now, instead of missing a few weeks to get better, Syndergaard could be sidelined a few months.

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It is an absolute joke that Syndergaard was allowed to blow off a test when he was complaining about discomfort. It was a situation handled very poorly by everyone as the Mets look inept once again handling an injury.

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