Noah Syndergaard has strep throat, will miss Saturday start

Another one bites the dust. At least temporarily, anyway. Noah Syndergaard is “extremely under the weather” due to strep throat and will not make his scheduled start on Saturday. Instead, Sean Gilmartin will get the opportunity. The 26-year-old out of Florida State has not started a game in the majors this year, but he has done so 18 times with Triple-A Las Vegas in 2016.

The Mets are hoping that Syndergaard will be ready to pitch again early next week, which puts him in line for two more starts before the end of the season. However, it could take him out of consideration for the National League Wild Card game, which is scheduled for Wednesday, October 5. Terry Collins says that the Mets will cross that bridge when they get to it.

Syndergaard is coming off one of his worst outings in a while, with five runs allowed to the Braves in fewer than four innings. Before that, though, he was quite effective, letting up just four runs over his previous five starts.

Gilmartin has been used sparingly out of the bullpen lately. In 17 innings with the Mets this season, he has 11 strikeouts, four walks, and a 4.76 ERA. The last time he made a big league start was on October 1 of last year against the Phillies, when he allowed two runs in five innings.

The scratched start for Syndergaard could send fans into a tizzy, as they were already frustrated with recent bad news concerning Jacob deGrom and Steven Matz. There’s good news too, though. The Cardinals are currently losing, and if the result holds up, the Mets will be one game ahead in the Wild Card race entering Friday night’s action.