The Baseball Tonight crew previews the matchup between Noah Syndergaard and the Mets against Jake Arrieta and the Cubs on Tuesday Night Baseball. (1:07)

CHICAGO -- New York Mets right-hander Noah Syndergaard insists he is in the clear after requiring an escort off the mound from the team's trainer in his final first-half start. Whether that is actually the case will be more firmly established once Syndergaard takes the mound on Tuesday night in a matchup opposite fellow All-Star Jake Arrieta at Wrigley Field.

Syndergaard's fastball velocity, which averages 98.1 mph, the highest of any starting pitcher in the majors, precipitously dropped to as low as 91 mph in his final inning of first-half work on July 8.

Syndergaard said his arm felt like it had a parachute attached in that final frame against the Washington Nationals.

So the Mets scratched Syndergaard from the All-Star Game, which he otherwise might have started. Manager Terry Collins then placed Syndergaard at the back of the rotation coming out of the break to maximize his rest. That turn comes up Tuesday against the Chicago Cubs.

"My arm feels really good," Syndergaard said. "Those four days of not throwing were pretty crucial, and it's going to really benefit me."

Noah Syndergaard's velocity dipped to as low 91 mph in his final inning of work before the All-Star game. Rich Graessle/Icon Sportswire

Syndergaard was examined by a team doctor at Citi Field after being pulled against the Nationals. He was deemed not to require an MRI. The issue since has been portrayed by Syndergaard and the organization as "arm fatigue," and explained away as Syndergaard's temporarily hitting a wall due to the first-half workload in his first full major league season.

The 23-year-old Syndergaard tossed 105 2/3 innings in the first half while going 9-4 with a 2.56 ERA.

Then again, the Mets for months portrayed Matt Harvey's struggles as a hangover from last year's workload -- 216 innings, the most ever in a first season back from Tommy John surgery. It turned out Harvey was dealing with thoracic outlet syndrome, which required season-ending surgery on Monday in St. Louis.

No one is suggesting Syndergaard has anything dire going on.

Still, twice earlier in the season Syndergaard had undergone an MRI after only modest drops in his fastball velocity. The Mets insisted both times the imaging revealed that Syndergaard's ligaments are fine. Yet this time Syndergaard felt it was unnecessary to undergo any similar MRI tests, and none took place.

Syndergaard does take anti-inflammatory medication for a small bone spur in the back of his pitching elbow. But team officials have said the spur is insignificant enough that it will not need to be surgically removed, even after the season.

"I think it's just the fact that I was really fatigued the last part of the first half of the season, and I just needed a little bit of a break," Syndergaard said.

Pitching coach Dan Warthen suggested whatever troubled Syndergaard against the Nationals may not have been entirely a physical ailment.

"I think there were a lot of things that happened that particular inning that was as much mental as it was physical," Warthen said.

Syndergaard actually is the lone young Mets starting pitcher not to have undergone Tommy John surgery during his professional career. Zack Wheeler still is recovering from that procedure, while Harvey had his performed in 2013 and Jacob deGrom and Steven Matz underwent Tommy John surgery while in the minors.

Syndergaard threw on flat ground with Mets staff watching in San Diego and again in Philadelphia on Friday. He threw off a mound Saturday for the first time since facing the Nationals.

As with the Mets' other pitchers, Syndergaard's second-half bullpen sessions will be trimmed to no more than 20 pitches to keep the workload reasonable.

Tuesday's start will come after 10 full days off from pitching in games. Arrieta was given a similar breather with the Cubs after limping into the All-Star break.

"He 100 percent felt good," Warthen said about Syndergaard's bullpen session on Saturday. "The ball was coming out great. I have no doubt he'll be fine when he walks to the mound."

Said Collins: "I think the rest has been good for him. Dan said the ball came out of his hand great. I'm not concerned. We'll see how he is after he reaches 75 pitches, to see if any fatigue sets in. But I'm not worried about him when the game starts."

Syndergaard insisted he is OK.

"It feels like I have a new arm, really," he said.