Kuzul

For the second time in as many years, the New York Mets are headed to the postseason.

By virtue of Saturday’s 5-3 win over the Philadelphia Phillies, the Mets clinched a wild-card berth a week after the Washington Nationals celebrated their National League East title.

With the game’s final out in hand, the Mets celebrated on the mound at Citizens Bank Park before they hit the locker room for some champagne showers:

MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo documented the scene in the clubhouse:

DiComo also captured footage of the team celebrating with its fans in Philadelphia:

Following an eight-year playoff drought, the Mets have now joined the postseason party in consecutive years for the first time since 2000.

Though New York’s vaunted pitching staff was dogged by injuries all season—Matt Harvey had season-ending surgery for thoracic outlet syndrome, Steven Matz has endured elbow and shoulder ailments and Jacob deGrom underwent season-ending elbow surgery—New York has a shot to defend its National League pennant.

Following a 15-7 start in April, the Mets went 26-30 in May and June before they started to right the ship. After going 13-13 in July and 15-14 in August, they notched 17 wins in 27 September games.

New York also overcame inconsistencies on offense to return to the postseason, as it ranks 12th among the 15 NL clubs with a collective .245 batting average. The only teams with worse marks are the Milwaukee Brewers, Philadelphia Phillies and San Diego Padres.

With Noah Syndergaard headlining a pitching staff that ranks third in the NL in team ERA and starters’ ERA, the Mets look like they may be able to pull off the improbable and return to the World Series. But it will be tough to best the Nationals, Chicago Cubs or Los Angeles Dodgers.

And first they’ll have to get by the San Francisco Giants or St. Louis Cardinals in the Wild Card Game.

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They won’t have Matt Harvey, they won’t have Jacob deGrom, and they won’t have Daniel Murphy.

If you’re expecting the New York Mets to be the same roadblock they were for the Chicago Cubs they were last October, well, a lot of the power pitching is hurt, and the power-hitting second baseman is gone.

But they do have Jay Bruce.    

A week ago, you’d laugh when you said that. A week ago, Mets fans would cringe or worse if you said it.

But now the Mets are nearly assured of getting back to the postseason, and Bruce is part of the reason. Now the Mets are one regular-season win and one Wild Card Game win away from an October rematch with the Cubs, and Bruce is a reason to think they might just have a chance again.

“We knew when we got him, if he starts swinging the bat, he changes our whole lineup,” Mets manager Terry Collins said on the Mets TV broadcast Friday night after Bruce’s three hits and three RBI keyed the 5-1 win over the Philadelphia Phillies that dropped the Mets’ magic number to one. “Hopefully he can stay hot from now on.”

Presumably Collins meant from now to whenever the Mets are done in 2016. Bruce’s history through eight-and-a-half years with the Cincinnati Reds tells you he can stay hot for a while and that he can carry a team when he does.

That same history tells you he can get ridiculously cold and can drive his own team up the wall when he does.

The Mets saw that after acquiring Bruce from the Cincinnati Reds Aug. 1. Their fans saw it, and because they’d never really seen the hot version of Bruce, they booed him almost nonstop during the team’s last homestand. They stopped only when they didn’t have a chance, because Collins pinch hit for Bruce—with Eric Campbell!—and then left him out of the lineup four straight days.

The final day of that benching was last Saturday, and that night, Bruce pinch hit in the ninth inning and hit his first home run in three weeks (he went 3-for-39 in those three weeks, with no extra-base hits and one RBI).

Since then, Bruce has been back in the lineup every game, and he’s hit safely in each one. The Mets have won every game but one.

Beginning with that home run, Bruce has 10 hits in 20 at-bats, and four of them have left the ballpark.

As my friend Jared Diamond of the Wall Street Journal tweeted sarcastically Friday:

With Bruce, with Yoenis Cespedes, with a revitalized Jose Reyes and an impressive Asdrubal Cabrera, the Mets head toward October with a lineup that might match or beat the one they rode to the World Series a year ago. They’ll need it, because as well as Seth Lugo and Robert Gsellman (who won again Friday) have done as fill-in starters, it’s a little much to expect them to dominate in October the way Harvey or deGrom could.

Even if this season ends with a wild-card loss next Wednesday or even if it ends with a division-series loss to a Cubs team that will be heavily favored, the Mets can be proud of what they’ve done.

They lost three-fifths of their Opening Day rotation and also Zack Wheeler, the young power pitcher who was supposed to come back from Tommy John surgery and join the rotation at midseason. Three of the four starting infielders suffered major injuries, and two remain out.

They were 60-62 on Aug. 20, when they had just lost Steven Matz and were about to lose deGrom. They’ve gone 26-12 since then, the best record in the major leagues in that span.

Most of that came with minimal contributions from Bruce, who was leading the National League in RBI at the time of the trade but drove in just 11 runs in his first 42 games with the Mets.

It’s only been a week since then, two games against the Phillies sandwiched around a series against a Miami Marlins team stunned by Jose Fernandez’s death. It’s not much.

But Bruce’s history says these hot streaks can last. The Mets hope this one does.

Already, Bruce has the hits that have them on the verge of clinching a playoff spot. Now maybe he can give them the hits that help make that playoff spot count.

Danny Knobler covers Major League Baseball as a national columnist for Bleacher Report.

Follow Danny on Twitter and talk baseball.

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The Washington Nationals are on the verge of a playoff appearance, but a lingering injury to All-Star second baseman Daniel Murphy‘s buttocks could cause panic. 

Continue for updates.  

Nationals Briefly Shutting Murphy Down

Friday, Sept. 23

Per MLB.com’s Jamal Collier, an MRI revealed Murphy has a strain in his buttocks, and the Nationals are shutting him down for the next few days.

Murphy has not played in a game since September 20, only making a pinch-hit appearance in a 1-0 loss against the Miami Marlins while dealing with the injury. 

Murphy is having the best season of his career at the age of 31, leading the National League with a .596 slugging percentage and .987 OPS. He’s been a standout for the Nationals, who have needed his effort to offset a surprisingly down season for Bryce Harper. 

Murphy has been able to avoid major injuries this season after spending time on the disabled list in each of his last two seasons with the New York Mets. His breakout season does give the Nationals an anchor in the middle of the lineup, though they are fortunate to have more depth than in recent years. 

With Murphy out of the lineup, Trea Turner can shift to second base as he continues to also handle the outfield. He’s shown excellent promise in his initial exposure to major league pitching, so the Nationals should be optimistic he can hold down the fort.

Since the Nationals’ magic number to clinch the National League East is down to two, they can afford to be patient with Murphy and allow him to heal in order to be ready for the postseason. 

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New York Mets starting pitcher Noah Syndergaard missed his scheduled start on Saturday against the Philadelphia Phillies due to a bout with strep throat. 

It is currently unclear when he’ll return to the mound. 

Continue for updates. 

Latest on Syndergaard’s Timeline for Return

Saturday, Sept. 24

Syndergaard threw a bullpen session on Saturday, and the Mets “remain hopeful” he’ll start on either Monday or Tuesday, according to Anthony DiComo of MLB.com. 

Syndergaard Essential to Mets’ Rotation 

The Mets started Sean Gilmartin in place of Syndergaard on Saturday. 

Syndergaard’s dominance on the mound has been a source of both excitement and anxiety for Mets fans.

The 24-year-old is 13-9 with a 2.63 ERA through 29 starts. According to FanGraphs, his 10.60 strikeouts per nine innings are fourth among qualified starting pitchers.

Of course, even Thor has his vulnerabilities, and his impressive velocity is both a blessing and a curse. According to MLB.com’s Statcast data, his four-seam fastball averages 98.3 mph, while his sinker comes in at 98.0 mph.

Since he throws so hard, many fans wondered whether arm trouble would become an issue, and that’s what happened in June. He visited a doctor after experiencing elbow discomfort during his June 22 start against the Kansas City Royals. His July 8 start also ended abruptly after he started suffering arm fatigue.

New York has already lost Matt Harvey for the rest of the season, and it’s anybody’s guess as to how his thoracic outlet syndrome will affect his performance in 2017. 

Syndergaard is essential to the Mets making a run in the postseason if they get in, especially with the winner-take-all stakes in the wild-card matchup. Not having their No. 1 starter available for more than one start would alter their ability to advance if they make the playoffs.

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The injury bug has been trying to block the New York Mets from returning to the World Series in 2016. Credit the Mets for putting up a strong resistance.

But the fight has finally been lost.

Jacob deGrom was set to return from a forearm injury Sunday, thereby restoring a power arm to a diminished starting rotation. So much for that. Rather than taking the mound against the Minnesota Twins, Barry M. Bloom of MLB.com reported deGrom likely won’t pitch again this season.

“Jacob has had issues with the ulnar nerve in his right elbow, which is not unusual after Tommy John surgery, even during the time after that surgery,” Mets general manager Sandy Alderson said, per Bloom. “He will not pitch tomorrow. I think it’s unlikely he will pitch the rest of the season. We’ll see.”

The right-hander didn’t have any trouble in a Friday bullpen session, but he felt pain after making a throw while shagging balls during batting practice Friday. That convinced the Mets to shut him down, and it’s likely to lead to offseason surgery.

So it goes for the Mets. Losing a pitcher with a 2.74 career ERA fits with a trend of bad breaks that, as James Wagner of the New York Times highlights here, has all but destroyed their Opening Day roster:

The bottom list may not include Steven Matz, but that might just be a matter of time. The Mets have not yet offered a return date from a bum shoulder for the young left-hander.

According to ESPN.com’s Jayson Stark, they haven’t been brimming with optimism:

If Matz can’t return, at least the Mets still have Noah Syndergaard and Bartolo Colon for the stretch run and the postseason. But they only have Seth Lugo, Robert Gsellman and Gabriel Ynoa after them. Even if Matz does return, his workload will surely be limited.

The good news is deGrom‘s absence and Matz‘s up-in-the-air status don’t necessarily kill New York’s chances of making the postseason.

The Mets hold a two-game lead on the St. Louis Cardinals for the National League‘s second wild-card spot. The Cardinals are not playing well, and the Mets have the advantage of playing only one winning team, the Miami Marlins, in the closing weeks of the regular season.

Plus, the bad vibes shouldn’t mask how well the Mets are playing. They’ve won nine of their last 12 games.

Assuming the Mets do indeed close on a wild-card berth, they’d be in good shape to take the next step. They’re on track to play the San Francisco Giants, who are backing into October as the NL’s worst second-half team. The Mets have Syndergaard, an electric pitcher who happens to be red-hot, slated to start the Wild Card Game on Oct. 5.

Even if the Mets get past the Wild Card Game, they’ll have these guys waiting for them:

At 94-53, the Chicago Cubs have already clinched the NL Central and are running away in the race for the NL’s top seed. They’ll await the winner of the Wild Card Game, ready to unleash the league’s most well-rounded attack in their quest to end their 108-year championship drought.

Of course, it was the Mets who pushed the drought from 107 to 108 when they swept the Cubs in last year’s National League Championship Series. Daniel Murphy, now with the Washington Nationals, had a big hand in that, but Chicago’s inability to handle New York’s power pitching was the deciding factor.

Should the Mets and Cubs meet again in this year’s NLDS, the Mets won’t be able to go back to the power pitcher. The only dominant pitcher from last year’s NLCS still at full health is Syndergaard. If he pitches in the Wild Card Game, he would only be available for one start in the NLDS.

It’s true what they say about nobody being able to predict baseball. And that may go double for postseason baseball—an entirely different animal.

But sorry, it’s hard to imagine the Mets beating the Cubs in a five-game series with just one start from Syndergaard. The Cubs would have a better offense, a better defense and arguably a better bullpen than the Mets. Getting just one start from Syndergaard would render the Mets unable to match up with Chicago’s starting foursome of Jake Arrieta, Jon Lester, Kyle Hendricks and John Lackey.

If the Mets were to pull off a miracle and survive into the NLCS, they’d run into that same matchup problem against either the Los Angeles Dodgers or Washington Nationals. The Dodgers have an excellent trio in Clayton Kershaw, Rich Hill and Kenta Maeda. The Nationals have lost Stephen Strasburg, but they still have Max Scherzer, Tanner Roark and Gio Gonzalez.

Thinking this far ahead may be pointless. Having Syndergaard lined up for a likely matchup against the Giants in the NL Wild Card Game gives the Mets a good shot at advancing, but it wouldn’t be automatic. The Giants have Madison Bumgarner lined up for Oct. 5, and we all know what he can do under pressure.

If deGrom had been able to return Sunday, it would be possible to paint a more optimistic picture of the Mets’ future. His presence likely wouldn’t have impacted the Wild Card Game, but the Mets could have used him twice against the Cubs. Under those circumstances, we could be looking at the Mets as just the team to challenge Chicago’s status as the obvious favorites in the National League.

But now there’s no arguing with the odds. FanGraphs gives the Mets a 13.0 percent chance of going to the NLCS, a 4.2 percent chance of going to the World Series and a 1.6 percent chance of winning it all.

The odds say it’s not happening, and with deGrom out of the picture, they may even be a little generous.

Stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com and FanGraphs unless otherwise noted/linked.

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A New York Mets starting rotation that was supposed to be the mightiest force on this or any other planet has become battered, broken and badly in need of a hero.

Enter Thor.

Noah Syndergaard was not the biggest difference-maker in the Mets’ 4-3 victory over the Washington Nationals on Tuesday. That honor belongs to T.J. Rivera, whose first career home run was a go-ahead shot in the top of the 10th inning that erased Jeurys Familia’s blown save.

But none of that could have happened had Syndergaard not first led the way in arguably his most dominant start of the second half. He lasted seven innings, giving up just one earned run on four hits and a walk. He struck out 10, pushing his total for the season to 205.

So it goes for the fire-balling right-hander. Syndergaard now has a 2.43 ERA in 174 innings, and that ERA is trending down in a hurry.

His ERA in his five most recent starts is 1.06. And that comes with 34 strikeouts in 34 innings to boot.

Let’s acknowledge this for what it is: pretty much the only piece of good news the Mets have gotten about their starting rotation in recent days.

Matt Harvey has long since been felled by injury. Jacob deGrom and Steven Matz are more recent victims of the injury bug. Those two could probably use more time to recover, but Rafael Montero’s ouster from the rotation is forcing Terry Collins’ hand. The manager’s considering bringing back both deGrom and Matz to “piggyback” in the same game on Sunday.

“If things are moving forward,” Collins said (via Anthony DiComo of MLB.com), “then we’ve certainly got to take a look at it.”

Meanwhile, the numbers are about as ugly as you’d expect. The Mets have used eight different starters in the last month. Syndergaard has pitched well. The other seven have a 4.46 ERA.

The silver lining is that the Mets keep finding ways to win. Their defeat of the Nationals on Tuesday was their eighth win in their last 10 games and their 17th in their last 23 games. They hold a half-game lead over the St. Louis Cardinals for the National League‘s second wild-card spot.

Among the many reasons for this is that Syndergaard has been a much-needed rock when his turn comes up every five days. He’s done so stealthily, as Tuesday was his first double-digit strikeout game since June 15. But with that now in the bag, there’s no escaping the sense he’s getting back to being the overwhelming force of nature that had everyone’s attention earlier this season.

The road in between was bumpy. Syndergaard battled a dead arm and elbow trouble in the middle of the summer. Per Brooks Baseball, his velocity responded accordingly with a slight dip in July. He had a seven-start stretch between early July and mid-August in which he didn’t pitch more than six innings.

But things are different now. After drifting upward, Syndergaard’s release point is closer to where it was earlier in the year. And the adjustment process is ongoing.

“I made a slight adjustment in my mechanics the other day that allowed me to get over my front foot quite a bit easier,” Syndergaard said after Tuesday’s game (via ESPN.com’s Adam Rubin). “So I had quite a bit of extra late life on my two-seamer.”

Speaking of that two-seamer, Syndergaard has dusted it off in September:

This is not including Syndergaard’s effort against the Nationals on Tuesday, but the raw PITCHf/x data shows he once again threw his two-seamer in equal tandem with his four-seamer.

It’s not surprising Syndergaard is heating up again as he’s bringing his two-seamer back into the fold. His four-seamer is an outstanding pitch in its own right, sitting in the high 90 mph range with some nifty vertical action, according to Baseball Prospectus. But it serves him best on the glove side of the zone. To work the other edge, he needs his two-seamer.

So, this is the Syndergaard hitters are seeing now: He’s more mechanically comfortable and can work both sides of the plate with high-90s heat. That’s enough for them to worry about, and that’s before they can think about the slider, curveball and changeup that have done the heavy lifting for his strikeout rate (10.6 per nine innings).

This has helped Syndergaard forge an overpowering six-start stretch, and the Mets’ schedule leaves room for three more. Considering the state of their rotation outside Syndergaard, these three starts may be the difference between going home and going back to October.

Stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com and FanGraphs unless otherwise noted/linked.

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On Thursday morning, it was announced that Tim Tebow, the polarizing quarterback who hasn’t touched a football in any way that matters since 2012, signed with the New York Mets to play minor league baseball. Based on the early reviews of the move, it appears Tebow is no less polarizing as a baseball player.

In an unusual parallel, across the sporting landscape in a dark corner where fringe meets niche, a similar story unfolds on Saturday night: Pro wrestler CM Punk will make his professional MMA debut when he fights Mickey Gall at UFC 203, with no meaningful qualifications beyond fame and fandom of the sport.

The case of Tebow is one of a freak athlete and genuine cultural phenomenon looking to find a place deep in the minor leagues and work his way up. The online hate and hot takes he generates are much more about him as a guy—the bible thumping, the swagger, the passion of those who love him—than the athlete.

Physically speaking, he’s undeniable. A bear of a man with fast-twitch fibers to burn, toughness and leadership qualities, no one would ever suggest he’s not an athlete. They may not be sure he’s a baseball player, but he’s raw and toolsy, and if he was 10 years younger, he’d probably be taken in the earlier rounds of the MLB draft. He’s everything a scout looks at and salivates over.

The case of Punk, real name Phil Brooks, is grossly different.

Punk is 38 years old, battered and broken from years as a professional wrestler, and he’s not fooling anyone about being past his athletic prime. He’s almost entirely guts at this point, willing himself through two years of preparation just to see if he can win a fistfight at the highest level. Some people love him and others hate him, but it’s hard not to respect him.

But with all of that considered, people generally seem more open to Tebow as a baseball player than to Punk as a mixed martial artist. One can’t help but wonder why that’s the case.

If it’s not the athletic merits of the two, perhaps it’s the road each is travelling in their respective new careers.

Tebow, if he’s ever going to make it to The Show, will do so by proving he can hit at the minor league level and also adopting a position and fielding it adequately. Punk is already at the top of the game, essentially walking out of some hard training sessions in a Milwaukee gym and into the shark tank of the toughest division in the toughest sport in the world.

It’s not hard to see how some might ruffle at that.

If not the roads travelled, maybe it’s the level of respect each would have gotten in their prior athletic pursuits.

Tebow made his bones in America’s game, continually winning The Big Game at every level he played, often in the face of long odds and numerous doubters. Again, not everyone loves him, but no one would ever deny his athletic prowess and the legitimate decoration it’s garnered him.

Punk was, comparatively, a phony in the eyes of many. A fake. People see pro wrestlers and believe that a predetermined outcome cheapens the athletic feats of those performing. They ignore the nightly physical toll of the game, to say nothing of the baseline strength and agility it takes to perform at the highest levels.

Still, if one were committed to that comparison, you could see how they might make the argument.

And if it’s neither of those things? Well maybe it’s just the fans themselves.

Baseball is a game that’s so deep and so challenging that a team giving up a minor league roster spot to try out a celebrity vanity project is almost irrelevant—especially in September, especially for a team in the hunt for a Wild Card spot like the Mets are. Fans just can’t commit the energy to caring about who’s reporting to the Arizona Fall League, and outside of a guy who might be losing a roster spot to Tebow, the limited grumbling about the signing reflects as much.

MMA is newer; it’s more aggressively defended by those who love it. Most who do are still raw from notable public figures denying its merits, politicians muddying the waters of its legitimacy and mainstream media treating it as a sideshow. It was relegated to internet chat rooms long before it was a billion-dollar industry, and fans often still treat it as such. That an outsider like Punk could walk into the top promotion and call his shots is almost personally offensive to some of those fans who’ve been around since the dark ages.

Regardless of the stance a person is taking, though, in the face of all of this, the stories themselves are not grossly different from one another: A guy with a degree of athletic fame in another walk of life is looking for a fresh start in a new endeavor.

The rest of it, including how people react and why, isn’t that important. If the athletes themselves are happy and someone is willing to pay them for it, the differences in cultures surrounding the two sports and the backlash generated within those cultures should be the last thing on anyone’s mind.

Follow me on Twitter @matthewjryder!

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Tim Tebow‘s dream of pursuing a baseball career will continue as the former NFL quarterback and the New York Mets agreed to a minor league contract Thursday.

The Mets announced the deal, noting that Tebow will participate in the instructional league. ESPN’s Adam Schefter first reported the agreement. 

“This decision was strictly driven by baseball,” Mets general manager Sandy Alderson told reporters after the announcement. “This was not driven by marketing considerations.”

Alderson called Tebow “a classic player development opportunity for us,” comparing him to Seth Lugo and T.J. Rivera, adding that “the idea that any one player has no chance to make it to MLB, I reject.”

Tebow will start in the instructional league on Sept. 18, per Marc Carig of Newsday, with Alderson noting that Tebow “won’t be available every day” due to his commitments with ESPN.

“This is something I don’t take for granted and I am excited about,” Tebow said at the press conference. “I’m looking forward to getting to work.”

When asked about his expectations for success, Tebow said he “would consider success giving it everything I have.”

Tebow, 29, held an open tryout Aug. 30 in front of scouts from 28 of the 30 MLB teams. Playing in a simulated game, Tebow flashed raw power and left some scouts impressed—though, in Tebowian fashion, opinions were split.

“It was a complete waste of time,” an American League scout told USA Today‘s Josh Peter. “It was like watching an actor trying to portray a baseball player. He tried. He tried. That’s the best I can say. He is crazy strong and could run well in one direction, but that’s it. He only had one good throw of all his throws.”

“That was big power,” another scout, who had a more positive outlook, told Peter. “He was mishitting the ball out of the park.”

While few walked out of the tryout thinking they were stumbling on a potential superstar, one thing became clear: Tebow was getting signed.

Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports reported that eight teams were trying to bring in Tebow. The Colorado Rockies, Atlanta Braves and Toronto Blue Jays emerged as the likeliest potential suitors. Atlanta was particularly aggressive, even courting Tebow publicly. Rosenthal also noted one team was eliminated from contention due to their unwillingness to agree to Tebow’s schedule requests. 

Jon Heyman of Today’s Knuckleball reported that the “Tebow field was narrowed to five teams” before he signed with the Mets, adding that “interest was significant.”

“He has demonstrated more than rudimentary baseball skills.” Alderson said of Tebow. “We think he can be a baseball player.”

Tebow, by contrast, wasn’t able to stick on an NFL roster after his run with the New York Jets in 2012. He had seemingly settled into a broadcasting role, which included well-received turns on the SEC Network and even a stint on Good Morning America.

Tebow said the following of baseball, per Peter:

This is something I love to do, and I think when you have that mindset, it lets you be free to just go out there and compete. It lets you be free to do what a lot of people think you can’t do. When you don’t have that (fear), it lets you be able to be free to pursue life and what you’re passionate about, not what other people think you should do.

Tebow hasn’t played competitive baseball since high school, but we’ve learned we can never count him out.

Follow Tyler Conway (@jtylerconway) on Twitter.

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NEW YORK — There were four of them, four young starting pitchers, and last October they carried the New York Mets into the World Series.

It felt like it could be the start of something big—a team built around strong young arms that could think about winning with them, year after year. The Mets lost the World Series to the Kansas City Royals, but with pitching like this, there would be more chances.

There still could be, but on this first weekend of September, the Mets are battling for a playoff spot, and only one of those four young pitchers is healthy enough to pitch. If last year’s Mets were a lesson on how to build with young arms, this year’s Mets are the reminder that all too often those arms can break.

The Mets sent 24-year-old Noah Syndergaard to the mound Friday night against the Washington Nationals. Syndergaard didn’t win, but he looked so good the Mets could dream of having him start a winner-take-all Wild Card Game in 33 days.

Nice dream, but how do the Mets get there with a rotation that currently consists of Syndergaard, 43-year-old Bartolo Colon and three guys who spent most of this season in the minor leagues?

Already, the Mets lost 27-year-old Matt Harvey for the season from surgery to deal with thoracic outlet syndrome.

Then, before Syndergaard took the mound Friday, manager Terry Collins said 25-year-old left-hander Steven Matz won’t pick up a ball until Monday and won’t go with the Mets when they begin their next trip in Cincinnati. A while later, the Mets announced that 28-year-old right-hander Jacob deGrom had an MRI on his right forearm, and while they said doctors found no structural damage, they also said deGrom “likely” won’t be making his next start.

“Really unfortunate to hear that,” Syndergaard said, after the 4-1 loss to the Nationals.

Collins and deGrom tried hard to paint a brighter picture, calling the MRI results a great relief.

“I’m pretty certain I’ll be back out there [this season],” deGrom said.

Perhaps he will be, but the doctor’s recommendation was he takes medication to reduce the inflammation and doesn’t attempt to throw until the soreness subsides.

“I’ve got to be smart about it,” deGrom said. “I feel like I could throw now.”

It’s admirable and understandable that he wants to pitch, but the fact is no one can yet say when it would be smart for him to pitch. The same goes for Matz, who last started Aug. 14 before he added shoulder soreness to the bone spur in his elbow as ailments that have derailed his season.

At this point, deGrom seems significantly more likely to return than Matz, but the Mets can’t count on either of them. They’ll have to scramble, but then again they’ve been scrambling all season.

They’ve lost three-fourths of their Opening Day infield, with second baseman Neil Walker (back surgery) the latest casualty. The only “healthy” infielder is shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera, who has started just 12 games since July 31 because of knee trouble but has still managed to hit six home runs in his last eight games.

Collins talks regularly about needing to give Cabrera and left fielder Yoenis Cespedes (playing with a sore quadriceps) rest to get them through the season.

“We can’t lose Yoenis Cespedes for two weeks,” Collins said Friday. “We’ve got to have our lineup intact to have a chance.”

The surprising thing is the Mets still have a chance, even with the pitchers hurt, even with the patched-together lineup. There’s no way they’re catching the Nationals in the National League East—Friday’s loss dropped them 10.5 games behind and gave the Nats a magic number of 18 with 28 games left—but the Mets remain just two games behind the St. Louis Cardinals for the final wild-card spot.

Not only that, but after this weekend, the Mets will have 25 games remaining. Three of those 25 will be the week after next in Washington, but the other 22 will be against the Philadelphia Phillies (seven), Atlanta Braves (six), Cincinnati Reds (three), Minnesota Twins (three) and Miami Marlins (three).

It would be hard to come up with an easier final month.

With opponents like that, Syndergaard might make a run at the Cy Young Award. He’s given up just three runs in 22 innings in his last three starts, with opponents collecting just seven hits in 68 at-bats (.103). His ERA for the season is 2.56, which trails only Kyle Hendricks’ of the Chicago Cubs (2.09) and Madison Bumgarner‘s of the San Francisco Giants (2.49).

He could face Bumgarner in the Wild Card Game. He could face Hendricks in a division series game.

All the Mets have to do is get there. With a strong, young and healthy pitching staff, they’d be a good bet to do it.

The four pitchers who carried them to the World Series are still young and strong. But right now, only Syndergaard counts as healthy.

Danny Knobler covers Major League Baseball as a national columnist for Bleacher Report.

Follow Danny on Twitter and talk baseball. 

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New York Mets starting pitcher Jacob deGrom is battling forearm tightness that has put him on the shelf since Sept. 2, and it is unclear when he will return to the mound. 

Continue for updates.

Collins Comments on deGrom’s Timeline for Return

Sunday, Sept. 4

Mets manager Terry Collins told reporters there is a “good chance” deGrom will miss multiple starts as he recovers from his forearm inflammation.

DeGrom Comments on Playing Status 

Friday, Sept. 2

“I’m pretty certain I’ll be back out there,” deGrom said when asked whether or not he will play again this season, per Anthony DiComo of MLB.com.

Mets Release Statement on deGrom’s MRI

Friday, Sept. 2

The Mets provided details on the nature of deGrom’s visit to the hospital on Friday, via Steve Gelbs of SNYtv:

After experiencing soreness in his right forearm last night while pitching, Mets pitcher [Jacob] deGrom this afternoon had a precautionary MRI at the Hospital for special Surgery in New York. There is no structural damage.

DeGrom will take medication to relieve the soreness and will resume throwing when the discomfort subsides. He is likely to miss his next start.

DeGrom Diagnosed with Inflammation

Friday, Sept. 2

Per Mike Puma of the New York Post, deGrom underwent an examination Friday, which showed no structural damage, but there is inflammation that is likely to cost him at least one start.

DeGrom Struggling to Regain Momentum From ’15

Something has seemed to be off for the last two weeks. DeGrom has allowed 31 hits, four home runs and 16 earned runs in three starts since Aug. 18.

DeGrom has been solid in 2016, though, nothing like the Cy Young contender he was last season. He’s on pace to record the worst marks of his career in ERA (3.04), WHIP (1.203) and hits allowed per nine innings (8.6).

Injuries have been a factor in his career, though. He missed the entire 2011 campaign after undergoing Tommy John surgery in late 2010. He was sidelined during his rookie year because of rotator cuff tendinitis, and he dealt with back problems during the early stages of this season.

The Mets starting rotation has already been hit hard by injuries.

Matt Harvey is out for the season, and both Steven Matz and Jon Niese are on the disabled list as well. Bartolo Colon and Noah Syndergaard have been the only reliable starters in New York this season. 

Entering play Monday, the Mets are a game behind the St. Louis Cardinals for the National League‘s second wild-card spot. Losing deGrom would be a crushing blow for a team that’s already had its share of injuries while fighting to make another playoff appearance after a run to the World Series in 2015. 

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