Mets finally get one piece of good news on the injury front
ATLANTA — In the battle of the sore fingers, Steven Matz would appear ahead of Noah Syndergaard.
The lefty Matz avoided the disabled list on Wednesday, a day after leaving his start for the Mets in the fourth inning with soreness in the middle finger, the result of losing control of his bat while swinging — Matz hurled the bat toward the on-deck circle. Matz could potentially make his next start, according to manager Mickey Callaway, but his status won’t be clear until he throws a bullpen session later in the week.
“All I know was it was good news: It wasn’t a significant injury,” assistant general manager John Ricco said. “As to when he makes his next start, we will figure that out in the next couple of days.”
Syndergaard was placed on the disabled list Tuesday with a strained ligament in his right index finger, but is expected to throw a bullpen session this weekend, after which the Mets will evaluate whether he can return to the rotation.
The Mets’ overhaul of the medical staff in the offseason — which included the addition of Jim Cavallini as the team’s director of performance and sports science — hasn’t produced the desired effect of keeping players off the disabled list, but Ricco said the organization is pleased with the process.
“Any time you look at injuries there’s the collective and then you look at the individual and what’s happened, what’s preventable and what’s not,” Ricco said. “That is the analysis we do and we’re really happy with the thoroughness that is happening back there. You are not going to have overnight transition when you bring in new people and start new processes. It’s going to take some time for some of that stuff to work.”
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The Mets added bullpen depth by recalling lefty Buddy Baumann from Triple-A Las Vegas. In addition, right-hander Tim Peterson was selected from Las Vegas and right-hander Scott Copeland was selected from Double-A Binghamton. To clear space on the 40-man roster, P.J. Conlon was designated for assignment and Juan Lagares was transferred to the 60-day disabled list. The pitching additions left the Mets with a three-man bench for Wednesday’s game.
Seth Lugo is expected to be limited to about 60 pitches for his start against the Cubs on Thursday at Citi Field. The right-hander pitched two innings of relief in the first game of Monday’s doubleheader. He will be making his first start of the season.