NEW YORK -- The Mets decided to have Bartolo Colon leapfrog Noah Syndergaard in the rotation and take Tuesday's start against the Kansas City Royals.
Four pitches into his outing, Colon departed after getting struck by a comebacker off the bat of leadoff man Whit Merrifield.
The Mets announced Colon suffered a right thumb bruise and that X-rays were negative.
Colon whiffed at the shot with his glove hand and it struck his exposed pitching arm. Trainer Ray Ramirez raced to the mound, and Colon departed without attempting a warmup pitch.