MIAMI — In an effort to protect themselves should Noah Syndergaard not be available for a potential wild-card game, the Mets may give Bartolo Colon the ball on short rest Friday in Philadelphia.
Syndergaard would pitch Sunday if the Mets need to win, according to manager Terry Collins. Otherwise, the righty would throw an abbreviated session and get the ball Wednesday for the wild-card game.
Colon initially was scheduled to pitch Saturday, but moving the veteran righty ahead a day would allow him to be ready on full rest for the wild-card game if Syndergaard needs to go full-throttle Sunday. Robert Gsellman would pitch Saturday if Colon is moved to Friday.
Colon lasted just 2 ²/₃ innings against the Marlins on Monday.
“They’ve all got to pitch this weekend, anyway, all three of them,” Collins said before the Mets’ 5-2 victory. “So we thought about the other day the possibility, Bart didn’t throw very many pitches Monday. Should we bring him back on short rest for Friday? Or bring him back in a playoff game on short rest when obviously Saturday would be a pretty big game for us, so we’re still juggling that around.”
Only clouding matters, Collins said he still is unsure how he would proceed with Syndergaard if the Mets have a wild-card berth wrapped up but need a victory Sunday to get home-field for the Wednesday game.
“Do we use Syndergaard or do we say he’s going to pitch the playoff game no matter where it’s at?” Collins said. “That’s going to be, I think, the ultimately tough decision.”
The Mets had a delegation of players and team officials, including Collins, attend the memorial service proceedings for Jose Fernandez, who was killed in a boating accident on Sunday. A funeral motorcade departed Marlins Park at 2:16 p.m. (in honor of Fernandez’s uniform No. 16).
“I thought it was important to be there to honor Jose, but I think it was important for us to have our people out there,” Collins said.
“We were represented very well today, so I was very proud of them.”
A funeral mass will be held for Fernandez on Thursday.
The Mets had their 63rd multi-homer game of the season on Tuesday, extending the club record. Previously, the Mets had 61 multi-homer games in 2006 to set a franchise mark.
