Mets Odds to Win the NL East Still Lead Major Contender After Noah Syndergaard Injury

Well, it happened again. For New York Mets' fans, injuries have been a constant issue in recent memory, but none more so than the dreaded Tommy John surgery.

Jacob deGrom, Zack Wheeler, Matt Harvey, Steven Matz and now Noah Syndergaard have all received this similar diagnosis at some point during their respective careers. Some have recovered well since this surgery and blossomed into superstar aces (deGrom and Wheeler), whole others have crashed and burned (Harvey).

Mets Odds to Win NL East

Even without Syndergaard, the Mets (+300) have managed to narrowly hold on to their third-best odds to win the NL East in 2020, according to FanDuel Sportsbook. This leaves them ahead of the Philadelphia Phillies (+330,) who are no slouch with Bryce Harper and Joe Girardi leading the charge. If and when the MLB season eventually gets underway, the NL East may be the most fun division to watch in the sport, with four teams that have a legitimate chance at a World Series appearance.

This injury is a killer for the Mets' chances, no doubt, but why isn't it tanking their odds, which immediately jumped back up to +300 after taking a minor hit at +370?

One likely reason is the emphasis general manager Brodie Van Wagenen has put on acquiring depth. This offseason, BVW added both Rick Porcello and Michael Wacha to account for the loss of Wheeler. The two veteran starters joined a rotation that already included deGrom, Syndergaard, Matz and Marcus Stroman (who the GM surprised everyone by trading for last season, knowing the Mets would have him under contract in 2019).

During Spring Training, the question arose on which of the six vets would get knocked from the picture and pitch out of the bullpen, but now the strategy looks to be a wise one. There are also other options in the both the Mets minors and bullpen should they need it, including former starters like Seth Lugo or Robert Gsellman transitioning back into the role, 2017 first round pick David Peterson who should pitch for AAA in 2020, fill-ins like Corey Oswalt and Walker Lockett, plus the opener strategy which has caught fire around the league.

Good starting pitching is always in demand, so losing Noah for an undetermined amount of time is brutal for the orange and blue faithful. Injuries happen though, and this one is not likely to be the last key injury for the Mets, the NL East, or baseball as a whole. How you account for that loss as a franchise, how you overcome adversity, that's how you win a World Series.

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Michael Obermuller is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Michael Obermuller also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username king_mizzard. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.