Mets' Noah Syndergaard Throws Off Mound; Jose Martinez Begins Rehab Assignment

The Mets look to be inching closer to getting a big piece of their rotation back in the near future.

Noah Syndergaard (right elbow inflammation) threw off the mound on Sunday morning at Citizens Bank Park. 

The right-hander has been playing catch since late-June, and progressed from throwing at 75 feet, to 90 feet in the last few weeks.

He has since started throwing off a slope, and now, he threw a bullpen session this morning. While Syndergaard will still need to ramp up a bit more before heading back out on a rehab assignment, his target date to return in early-September is beginning to look more realistic with each progression.

Syndergaard, who underwent Tommy John surgery in 2020, has not pitched in a game since September 2019. And although he began a rehab assignment in May, he was shutdown with elbow inflammation, which pushed back his expected return date from June to early-September.

Martinez Update

After undergoing knee surgery during spring training, first baseman/outfielder Jose Martinez is finally beginning a rehab assignment with Port St. Lucie on Sunday.

Martinez is batting second and playing right field, and it will be interesting to see how long he will need, before rejoining the big-league club.

According to manager Luis Rojas, they are planning to have Martinez play 3-4 innings and get one or two at-bats today in what will be his first action in almost five months.

And it's safe to say that Rojas is eager to get him back, particularly for his ability to hit against left-handed pitchers.

"It will nice to have that bat soon," said Rojas prior to the Mets' series finale with the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park. "Especially against lefties. We struggle against lefties, I think our record is like 12-23 against left-handed pitchers. And we want to improve that."

In 308 career at-bats against southpaws, Martinez is slashing .307/.382/.534 with a .915 OPS to go along with 16 homers and 50 RBIs.