Down Goes Thor

Sports in 2020 is really weird. Not only is the sports world on hold, but injuries to their prime athletes are starting to build up[. Thee latest to join that list is New York Mets right hander Noah Syndergaard. The team announced on Tuesday that Thor will have to undergo Tommy John Surgery to repair a torn UCL in his right elbow. When the surgery is done, Thor will be out until at least early next season.

Now this begs two questions. What does this mean for Thor's future? What does this mean for the Mets rotation?

Noah was supposed to be the number two man in the Mets rotation right behind ace Jacob deGrom. Now he can't do that. He's coming off a career high 197 and 2/3 innings last year. Noah has never pitched more than 200 innings in a season. He does throw hard, no argument there, but it has taken a toll on him. Clearly. As much of a fan as I am of Noah's, you knew at some point this was going to catch up to him. Plus he has had trouble with that right arm in the past. He hasn't really changed his pitching style, which to a degree really works. But sometimes you got to adapt to be able to sustain a long career.

We won't see Thor pitch again till next year, whether we actually have baseball this year or not. So it'll be interesting to see what actually happens with Noah when he does return. We saw with Matt Harvey that he had a good year his first year back after surgery, but was never the same. Difference between Syndergaard and Harvey is, Harvey had a solid career and was living up to the hype. Noah hasn't quite done that yet. Noah was brought over in the RD Dickey trade with Toronto and was projected to be a solid pitcher with huge upside. He been solid, no doubt there. But he never really proven to be the set in stone number two behind Jake. He's shown flashes but hasn't been able to sustain it.

Looking at the Mets rotation, if we ever do play baseball this year, it took a bit of a hit. Had they kept Thor all eyar, I would have put them into strong contention to compete for both the Wild Card spot and the Eastern Division title. Jake is a given as the ace at the top of the rotation. Not changing there. Behind him, it now sits Marcus Stroman, Steven Matz, Michael Wacha and Rick Porcello. Solid on paper, but come on. Outside of Jake and Maybe Stroman, this staff doesn't really scare me. It might be able to hold up on paper, but looking at the staff in Washington, Atlanta and maybe even Philly stack up just a little bit better. Thor wasn't perfect, but he did make a difference. He can be frustrating at times, but Noah does have the ability at times to live up to the potential and make Mets fans happy.

Here's hoping the surgery goes well and Thor can come back a better pitcher.