Mets Activate Tomas Nido From IL; Noah Syndergaard To Make 2nd Rehab Appearance On Sunday

The Mets activated catcher Tomas Nido from the IL on Friday. Meanwhile, Noah Syndergaard is scheduled to make his second rehab appearance for Brooklyn on Sunday.

The Mets activated catcher Tomas Nido from the injured list ahead of Friday night's matchup with the Washington Nationals.

In order to make room for Nido, the Mets have optioned catcher Chance Sisco to Triple-A.

Nido landed on the IL with a left thumb sprain on August 16. And unfortunately, starting catcher James McCann went down a day later with back spasms, which saw him go on the IL as well.

With their top two catchers out, the Mets have had to turn to Patrick Mazeika and Sisco. Luckily, Nido will serve as the starting backstop until McCann returns. 

Nido is slashing .231/.275/.343 with a .618 OPS in 51 games this season. 

Syndergaard

After making his first rehab appearance on Thursday night with High-A Brooklyn, Noah Syndergaard is now scheduled to make his second appearance on Sunday, per manager Luis Rojas. 

And this time, he is expected to do an up-down (pitching across multiple innings), as long as his pitch count doesn't run high in the first inning.

Syndergaard tossed one inning on Thursday night, and allowed a home run and hit a batter while picking up a strikeout. The right-hander retired the last three batters he faced and finished the inning on 16 pitches (12 strikes), four below his 20 pitch limit.

Syndergaard's velocity sat between 93-95 mph, as he threw only fastballs and changeups. And that is because he was advised by Dr. David Altchek and Dr. Neal ElAttrache to scrap his slider, as Syndergaard revealed after his outing.

The right-hander will not throw his slider by recommendation, or curveball (by choice) for the rest of the season, as the current belief is that they may have caused his previous setback in May.

With Syndergaard only having his fastball and changeup, this makes him even more of a fit for the Mets' bullpen, which is where he is expected to pitch upon his return. 

Syndergaard is set to hit free agency following the season, and as he told reporters on Thursday after his rehab outing, "I can't imagine leaving the Mets or New York."