The Mets were already staring down a challenging schedule by virtue of facing two of the top teams in the NL West for 13 straight games, starting this past Friday.
Then they got bumped up to play in front of a nationally televised audience Sunday night for another hurdle thrown their way — and at least one Met is not happy about it.
The Mets will finish their series against the Dodgers at Citi Field on Sunday night, then fly to San Francisco to play Monday night at 9:45 p.m. (EDT). Instead of having a day game Sunday to give them a jump on the cross-country trip, the Mets will be playing on ESPN’s “Sunday Night Baseball” — delaying their California arrival until well into the early hours of Monday morning.
“Hey @MLB @ESPN whose dumb f–king idea was it to change [Sunday’s] game to a night game when we’re travelling to the west coast after,” right-hander Noah Syndergaard wrote in an Instagram post Saturday. “Won’t get in until Monday morning. Take on the 1st place Giants later that evening. Brilliant!”
Syndergaard, who is still rehabbing from Tommy John surgery and subsequent elbow inflammation but has been traveling with the team, also noted that the Dodgers have the same grueling schedule, with a game back in Los Angeles on Monday night.
“This is cruel,” Syndergaard wrote.
Mets manager Luis Rojas admitted he has heard the concerns from his players.
“I know they’re venting about it,” Rojas said before Saturday’s game against the Dodgers. “I’ve heard the guys throughout the clubhouse say it and repeat it. But I think they’re doing it more as a joke because there’s no way around it. We’re going to do it. Other teams have done this in the past, too. I just think they’re venting.
“It’s tough to play the night game and then go across the nation, but we’re not the first team that’s ever done that.”
ESPN announced on July 30 that Sunday’s game had been moved from a 1:10 p.m. first pitch to 7:08 p.m. first pitch. It is a natural showcase between two big markets and two playoff contenders — the Dodgers own the first wild card in the National League, and the Mets entered Saturday a half-game back of the Phillies and Braves for first place in the NL East.
But it certainly doesn’t do the Mets any favors.
“I understand where they’re coming from, venting about it, just because it is a long trip and the game’s going to end late,” Rojas said. “So we’re going to arrive there in the morning or so. But it’s going to happen. So what can we do? Just be smart about Monday. We’ll have a late show in San Francisco so guys can get their rest and then be ready to play our first game against the Giants.”
Rojas said that Rich Hill, the 41-year-old left-hander expected to start Monday’s game against the Giants, will not travel to San Francisco ahead of the team. Instead he will join them on the team charter, which will not leave New York until, at the earliest, late Sunday night.
The Mets have already gone through a tough week. Since their last day off, Monday, they played one-plus inning Tuesday before sitting through a nearly two-hour rain delay, only to have the game suspended. They resumed it Wednesday at 4:10 p.m., then had the nightcap of a scheduled doubleheader delayed and eventually postponed. That made for a long doubleheader on Thursday that began at 12:10 p.m.
Then the Mets welcomed the Dodgers to Citi Field on Friday night and played a 4-hour, 18-minute game in which they battled back before losing in the 10th inning.
