We heard the name of the tall, right-handed pitcher who came over from the Toronto Blue Jays in the R.A. Dickey trade. Anticipation within the Mets fan base mounted when hearing about Noah Syndergaard’s fastball and stuff; meanwhile most of us never saw the guy throw a pitch.
As we followed his impressive 2013 campaign between Port St. Lucie and Binghamton, we began envisioning the future starting rotation full of aces. Once 2014 started, we wondered what Syndergaard was made of, as he struggled in Triple-A Las Vegas, pitching to a 4.60 ERA. Entering the 2015 season, we wondered just how effective Syndergaard would be throughout the season, and just what kind of role he would have with the team.
Spring Training did not showcase his abilities, as he pitched 7.1 innings and let up four earned runs. It also did not help that he was called out by captain David Wright for eating lunch instead of watching the game going on at that time. There was also a Twitter fight in April that may have questioned how mature Syndergaard was, and if he could handle the New York spotlight. When he was called up to the majors, he proved that he belonged in the big leagues, and that he was going to be a force to be reckoned with coming out of the starting rotation.
While averaging more than a strikeout per inning, Syndergaard won nine games, and had a WHIP of 1.05 in 24 starts. The stuff translated nicely to the big league level, and should only get better from here on out.
One of the main concerns moving forward will be seeing how Noah pitches on the road. His comfort at home was evident during the regular season, as his record 7-2 with an ERA of 2.46, while his record on the road was 2-5 with an ERA of 4.23. Throughout the season, adjustments were made in order to get more consistency from road performances, and hopefully Dan Warthen and the rest of the staff has figured out how to get solid pitching performances on the road.
His one road start in the playoff was a high-pressure situation, and ended up in a quality start against the Los Angeles Dodgers. This is a good building block to have heading into next year, in which Syndergaard will look to become one of baseball’s best young arms.
Considering that the man we now know as Thor is only 23 years old, he has grown leaps and bounds over the course of this season. There were not any negative stories down the stretch this season, and he handled the pressures of the postseason successfully. With the maturity and work ethic already in place, next season is going to be an even more exciting year for Syndergaard.
Spot on. Thor grew up right before our eyes, on the mound and in the clubhouse. He adjusts in game and he’s finally not afraid to come inside. One more adjustment – keeping pitch counts down to go deeper in games – is his last hurdle to being our 3rd ace.
If Matz can mature like this in 2016 we’ll truly have four aces.
Well done.
It was amazing to see him make the jump to the bigs. His maturation from beaning Carlos Gonzalez in May to winning our only WS game was tremendous. Although it was against the Braves, one of his most imposing starts came in Atl, so this road thing I think is mostly done.
Barring TJ surgery, I think Noah is going to be the best of all 5 starters.
It’s hard to argue with that claim, especially considering the ages of all the pitchers. Syndergaard was up the earliest, so it will be scary thinking about how good he can become after a couple of seasons in the majors.
Noah Syndergaard has already become the third ace on this staff in his rookie year. A #1 starting pitcher for a pitching staff should rank in the top 15 in three important categories. Noah’s stats, with National League rank in parenthesis, is 3.24 ERA (16), 3.25 FIP (17), 1.05 WHIP (9).
His progress from accidentally hitting Gonzalez in May and being upset, to claiming the inside part of the plate from Escobar in the World Series exhibited confidence and a strong competitive spirit.
The maturation and improvement over the course of the season gives great hope that at such a young age he will become the best of the three aces.
Great observation Metsense. I think once pitchers (especially the young ones) develop the confidence to throw inside, the game gets much easier for them. Hitters have fear in them when the pitcher isn’t afraid to throw inside, and it can get them out of their comfort zone.
Noah’s performance in the World Series, especially for me was one of the most thrilling performances I’ve seen. Without him we would have looked pitiful. He’s the only one who stood up and and praised the fans, called everything “His’, and knocked down, on the very 1st pitch in the only game they one, an ego maniac of leadoff hitter for KC. After that night I didn’t care if the Mets won the series or not – He showed everyone what NY was made of! It took a lot of guts, heart and literally balls, to send that kind of message to KC. He is Golden Thor! in my eyes now.
His fastball is without question, and his secondary pitches are nearly as good. If he can mix and match throughout a game, he could threaten with a no-hitter at any time.