Bob Klapisch

Columnist, @BobKlap

WASHINGTON — There’s plenty of blame to go around in the wake of Noah Syndergaard’s lat injury on Sunday, from the stubborn pitcher who refused to undergo an MRI last week, to the higher-ups who weakly backed away from a possible confrontation with their ace, to the buck-passing after an embarrassing 23-5 loss to the Nationals.

No one knows the severity of Thor’s lat strain, or how long he’ll be sidelined. This much is certain, though: He'll undergo an MRI on Monday morning, and this time there’ll be no defiance on his part. Unfortunately for the Mets, Syndergaard’s cooperation comes too late, as more aggressive monitoring might have kept him from taking the ball and prevented the injury.

GM Sandy Alderson admitted, “We’ll never know” if an MRI of the biceps area — where Syndergaard experienced pain five days ago — would have revealed a secondary area of concern. That’s what’s unforgivable: for a team that’s had a horrific record of caring for its players, not nearly enough was done to protect Thor.

Steering clear of injury was the Mets’ No. 1 concern in spring training. They repeated the mantra countless times, promising to avoid a repeat of 2016, when practically the entire starting rotation ended up on the disabled list. Everyone except Syndergaard, that is, who until this month has been a billboard of durability.

So how could the Mets have taken any chances, especially after Syndergaard was unable to lift his arm over his shoulder on Tuesday? Alderson defended the club’s response, suggesting the lat and biceps area are unrelated, as if Syndergaard’s injury on Sunday was a mere coincidence. They should know better than that — the shoulder, elbow and peripheral areas are all part of the same kinetic chain. Weakness in one part of the mechanism could have overtaxed another.

That’s why it’s unforgivable for the Mets to have stopped exerting their authority over an employee. Syndergaard said he felt fine after missing the start against the Braves. He said he would have been OK to face the Braves after all. And after the doctors suggested a precautionary MRI, he said no, insisting, “I know my body, I know what’s going on in there.”

Incredibly, the Mets’ front office allowed Syndergaard to have the last word; they withdrew the request for the MRI. And perhaps just to prove how tough he was, Syndergaard came out firing 100-mph fastballs in the first inning against Washington. He didn't even throw his first change-up until the 10th pitch of the game, until pitching coach Dan Warthen came to the mound and told him to stop trying to set a land-speed record and use his entire arsenal.

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Catcher Rene Rivera said, “I didn’t really see anything wrong,” but the Nationals jumped on Syndergaard for five runs. Clearly, his universe was already upside down.

With one out in the second inning and a 1-0 count on Bryce Harper, Syndergaard threw a curveball that stung deep in his right lat, near his armpit. Common sense should have told him to stop, but he ignored the pain and loaded up again — this time unleashing a 97.9-mph fastball that doomed him. Syndergaard immediately grabbed that same area and called for help.

Rivera, Terry Collins, Warthen and trainer Ray Ramirez rushed to the mound, and the verdict was immediate: Syndergaard was done. He was off to the clubhouse and on a train to New York within the hour. The scene in the dugout spoke to the Mets’ anger and frustration. Collins could be seen throwing a cup.

“You think? You think?” the manager said, red-faced and ready to explode when asked if he’d been upset by the day’s events. It’d already been a horrific week for the franchise, which lost its best hitter, Yoenis Cespedes, to a hamstring injury, as well as Lucas Duda, Wilmer Flores and now its most dynamic pitcher.

To be fair, Syndergaard could have made the episode easier for the Mets, if only he’d been less petulant about the MRI. There was no reason for him to refuse, other than to prove he could force the club to backpedal. Add that to an incident in the clubhouse, where Syndergaard berated Jay Horwitz, the 70-year-old media relations director, and you have the personality profile of an immature star, not a self-aware ace who understands the responsibility of acting like one.

Remember this, too: Syndergaard was warned about the risk of a heavy weight-lifting regimen that added thickness to his upper body last winter. The Mets were against his unorthodox approach. Motion analysis expert Tom House said Syndergaard’s obsession with new muscle was a “worst-case scenario.” House told The Record two months ago that there was strong probability Syndergaard would be injured before June 1.

Syndergaard, however, blew off the prediction as casually as he said no to the MRI. He knew better. “My arm is loose, my flexibility is good,” Thor said back in February. “I’m not worried.”

Now everyone is more than worried; they’re in full freak-out mode. Getting blown out by the Nationals didn’t help matters, either. The Mets bullpen allowed seven home runs, including the three surrendered by backup catcher Kevin Plawecki, making the first mound appearance of his major league career after Collins surrendered in the seventh.

The end of the game was nothing more than glorified batting practice by the Nats, although it’s not as if the Mets could have been any more traumatized. Losing Syndergaard was bad; mishandling the situation was even worse. Who knows how much further this could spin out of control? An overdue MRI will tell the story.