Torn lat muscle for Noah Syndergaard

New York Mets starting pitcher Noah Syndergaard has a torn lat muscle, the team has announced.

Syndergaard, who refused to have an MRI last week, was pulled from his start mid-inning this weekend, and an MRI today revealed the tear. There’s no timetable on a return, but Colby Lewis had a strained lat muscle last year, and was out from late June until early September.

One can reasonably ask why Syndergaard didn’t have an MRI when it was suggested last week...but then, one can also ask why the Mets sent Syndergaard back out there to pitch at a time when they felt he needed an MRI. Putting him on the 10 day d.l. and skipping his start would seem to have been the more reasonable course of action.

In any case, the Mets are now 10-14, and one of their best starting pitchers is on the shelf for a couple of months. Yoenis Cespedes also is on the disabled list with a hamstring injury that was exacerbated after the Mets didn’t put him on the d.l.