The New York Mets allowed the Philadelphia Phillies to run all over them, and the Phillies in turn defeated them 4-2.
With Noah Syndergaard on the mound, you usually can expect two things: that he will throw a good outing, and that the opposing team will steal a lot of bases. Well, Syndergaard was not on his game tonight, but the Phillies certainly ran all over him. Syndergaard allowed five stolen bases on the evening, which is simply unacceptable. His delivery to the plate has become so glacially slow that it puts Kevin Plawecki in crisis mode anytime that there is a runner on first. My Gut Reaction is that Syndergaard will not wait until the offseason to work on these issues, and instead work on them as the season starts to draw to an end.
Looking past the stolen bases, Syndergaard allowed four earned runs and eight hits over his 5.2 innings of work. It was a struggle for him to make it through those 5.2 innings, and it took him a season high 115 pitches to get there.
There were two horses pulling the offensive wagon for the Mets against the Phillies. Austin Jackson continued his torrid pace by going three for four, and adding an RBI by driving in Jeff McNeil. McNeil was the other horse that pulled the wagon for the Mets tonight, going 2-4. One of his two hits was a pure hustle double, earned by hustling around the bases on a popup that escaped the reaches of three converging Phillies. The other Met to drive in a run was Todd Frazier, who did so by making a sacrifice fly. The rest of the lineup fell victim to having to face Cy Young-candidate Aaron Nola, who was in form for seven strong innings.
The Mets received a positive surprise out of the bullpen with the debut of Daniel Zamora. Zamora looked like he had been on a big league mound before, showing great movement with his pitches and control. Although it was his first appearance, he certainly looked impressive in his 1.1 innings of work. Gsellman also came in for relief, and pitched a solid inning.
Following the loss, the Mets fall to 52-69 on the season. Tomorrow, they will face the Phillies again in Citizens Bank Park. There will be an impressive pitching match as Jacob deGrom will take on Jake Arrieta at 4:05 pm.
Syndergaard allowed five stolen bases. Not one of those impacted the four runs that were scored. Three runs scored in the first inning before any stolen base occurred. The fourth run scored when Jackson couldn’t catch a fly ball in the OF that went for a triple and the next guy singled.
Instead of focusing on the SB allowed, focus on the hits and baserunners allowed. Noah has a .343 BABIP this year and it was in the .330s the two previous years. This isn’t bad luck – it’s who he is as a pitcher right now. There are 114 pitchers to throw at least 90 innings and Syndergaard has the third-highest BABIP. The list of guys with marks that high are more scrubs than All-Stars.
A guy with Noah’s stuff should be allowing significantly fewer hits than innings pitched. JDG has has allowed 118 hits in 159 IP. Noah has 105 hits in 100.2 IP.
I disagree with Brian as there must be more focus on the stolen bases when Jorge Alfaro steals two on you, a base runner slower than Wilmer Flores. You can’t just give up extra bases to glaciers and think the speedsters of MLB won’t run you ragged and cost you wins later in your career.
The base running thing really was in Syndergaard’s head, and even Hernandez mentioned it. Also, there is something visibly wrong with Syndergaard, as there is now a definitive hitch in his delivery and it makes his pitches straighter. I went back to see Syndergaard’s first couple of outings and the hitch isn’t as pronounced as it is now; it was a much smoother delivery. That hitch gives a base runner a free extra step and thus Thor slings the ball more now affecting the movement.
And my third point, seeing Nola baffle hitters without exceptional stuff but with the ability to make the curve look like a fastball on the outer half that had hitters chase all night, I wonder if Lugo couldn’t be that if he sharpened his control.
Kevin Plawieki now a 111 OPS +
Jeff McNeil should have the opportunity to play and the Mets should evaluate him to be the second baseman of 20 19
Must gut reaction is 2 stabilize the lineup especially with Bruce being first base and winning culture. A good attitude ending the season make a call back in 2019.