Ervin Santana will make his Braves debut Wednesday - MLB

Signed to a one-year, $14.1 million contract on March 12, right-hander Ervin Santana will make his Braves debut Wednesday against the Mets in Atlanta.

Santana wasn’t ready to begin the season in the Braves’ rotation because he reported to spring training late and needed time to build up his normal arm strength, so instead he made a minor-league start Friday at Triple-A and allowed six runs in 5.1 innings.

Santana was one of the best pitchers in the league last season for the Royals, throwing 211 innings with a 3.24 ERA at age 30, but teams were unwilling to give him a huge long-term contract as a free agent in part because signing him also required forfeiting a draft pick. His inconsistent track record also played a part, as Santana had an ERA above 5.00 in 2012 and 2009, but Atlanta’s hand was forced by multiple injuries to the rotation.

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CINCINNATI — The Los Angeles Dodgers placed pitcher Noah Syndergaard on the 15-day injured list Thursday with a blister on the index finger of his right throwing hand.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said the timetable for Syndergaard’s return is unknown despite the 15-day designation.

“The physical, the mental, the emotional part, as he’s talked about, has taken a toll on him,” Roberts said. “So, the ability to get him away from this. He left today to go back to Los Angeles to kind of get back to normalcy.”

Syndergaard allowed six runs and seven hits in three innings against the Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday night, raising his ERA to 7.16.

Syndergaard (1-4) has surrendered at least five runs in three straight starts.

Syndergaard has been trying to return to the player he was before Tommy John surgery sidelined him for the better part of the 2020 and 2021 seasons.

Roberts said Syndergaard will need at least “a few weeks” to both heal and get away from baseball and “reset.”

“I think searching and not being comfortable with where he was at in the moment is certainly evident in performance,” Roberts said. “So hopefully this time away will provide more clarity on who he is right now as a pitcher.

“Trying to perform when you’re searching at this level is extremely difficult. I applaud him from not running from it, but it’s still very difficult. Hopefully it can be a tale of two stories, two halves when he does come back.”