NEW YORK -- Mets right-hander Noah Syndergaard reported to Citi Field on Saturday feeling well enough to throw a bullpen session for the first time since falling ill earlier in the week.
The club has slated him in to start on Tuesday in Miami, manager Terry Collins announced after Saturday's 10-8 loss to the Phillies.
"He feels a lot better today," Collins said of Syndergaard, who is recovering from strep throat. "He's got some energy back. But I think after the 'pen, we'll see how he feels, if it wears him down real fast or not. If you were as sick as he was for a couple days, he might need the extra day. He may not."
With Syndergaard to start on Tuesday, he will be lined up to make one final start next weekend in Philadelphia. The Mets are hopeful they will clinch a postseason berth before then, which would allow them to skip Syndergaard and use him in the National League Wild Card Game instead. But there is a strong chance they will need to start Syndergaard in one of their final regular-season games.
Without him or Bartolo Colon, who is also lined up to pitch on the final weekend, the Mets would need to use a rookie in the Wild Card Game -- either Seth Lugo or Robert Gsellman. Matt Harvey and Jacob deGrom are both done for the season.
One other pitcher who is not a candidate to start the Wild Card Game is Steven Matz, who received good news from his latest MRI -- nothing more than a left shoulder impingement. The Mets are hopeful Matz can begin pitching for them out of the bullpen as soon as next week, though that will depend upon how he is feeling. Matz's long-term future depends upon him proving his health over the season's final week.
"If he doesn't pitch at all, you certainly can't [use] him in the playoffs," Collins said. "So either he helps you right now, gets some innings out of the bullpen here in the next seven games, or he doesn't pitch at all. We just have to wait and see if he can throw."