Mets’ Noah Syndergaard set to make 2021 debut in doubleheader nightcap

For the first time in two years, a revitalized blonde-haired Thor makes his comeback for the Mets.

Noah Syndergaard came off the injured list on Tuesday afternoon, ahead of the team’s doubleheader against the Marlins. He will start Game 2 for the Mets, the club announced, his first major-league outing since Sept. 29, 2019.

Syndergaard underwent Tommy John surgery in March 2020, just after the pandemic stopped spring training last year. He enjoyed a mostly smooth rehab journey until May 2021, when he was forced to stall his encouraging rehab assignments due to a major setback.

The right-hander went back to work at the end of August, removing his slider and curveball from his arsenal following doctor’s orders. The amount of torque he uses on breaking balls caused that late-May setback, Syndergaard told reporters in August.

After another pause in his workload due to testing positive for COVID-19, Syndergaard completed two rehab starts, pitching one inning each, this month before receiving the green light from the Mets to join the active roster. Overall, he appeared in five minor-league rehab games this year, going 0-0 with a 1.13 ERA (one earned run in eight innings) with one walk and nine strikeouts.

Syndergaard becomes a free agent after the 2021 season. The expectation, before his early-summer setback, was that he would return to the Mets rotation in time to help the club in a pennant race. But he’s too late.

Syndergaard will start on Tuesday against the Marlins with the Mets already eliminated from playoff contention. He will make his Tommy John comeback anyway, to prove to the club — and himself — that he’s healthy and ready to pitch in the big leagues again.

THE YEAR OF DOUBLEHEADERS

The Mets were ravaged by schedule changes this season due to a consistent stream of bad weather that, at times, seemed to follow them even on their road trips. The 2021 schedule got off to a rocky start when the Nationals’ COVID-19 outbreak delayed the Mets’ first series of the year. Then, just when the Mets figured they could escape New York’s April rain showers, they landed in Colorado only to be greeted by a snow storm.

All told, the Amazin’s are scheduled to play their 14th and final doubleheader on Tuesday against the Marlins. According to Elias Sports, the last time a team played 14 or more twin bills in a season was in 1979, when the Mets played 19 doubleheaders and the Montreal Expos played 15.

The Mets shaved 56 innings off their season thanks to MLB’s seven-inning doubleheaders rule. Entering Tuesday, they are 10-3 in the first game of a doubleheader and 5-8 in the second game. The Amazin’s swept doubleheaders from the Phillies, Rockies and Nationals. Marcus Stroman started a seven-inning doubleheader on Tuesday for the ninth time this season.