With Syndergaard-Bauer spat, Mets West Coast rivalries grow

There has been a Cold War brewing in the National League this offseason. A Cold War of cold hard cash between the Mets, Dodgers, and Padres at the top has seemed to have erupted. With superstar power on all three teams, it is natural to assume that tensions will run high between the teams. On Twitter, it seems that the tensions have already spilled over into a feud between two star-level pitchers. Noah Syndergaard and Trevor Bauer, who interact with fans on social media in different ways. On Friday night, they decided to interact with each other, thanks to an indirect barb fired by Syndergaard.

And then he said……”I’m sorry I chose another team but I’ll donate to your charities!” https://t.co/Kxkje5Uqn2

— Noah Syndergaard (@Noahsyndergaard) February 20, 2021

He was clearly making light of Bauer’s free agent fiasco in which his website posted merchandise hinting he was signing with the Mets. He of course eventually signed with the Dodgers on a massive deal, which served as a point of annoyance for those who were hopeful he would sign with the Mets. Bauer offered an olive branch after the fiasco however, offering to donate $10,000 to five charities in New York, which Syndergaard spoofed in his tweet. But Bauer being Bauer, he had to jab back. After complimenting Syndergaard on his rehabbing efforts, Bauer attacked the way that Syndergaard has interacted with some fans on Instagram.

Also, @Noahsyndergaard, try to treat the fans better. They’re what makes our game go. No place for personal insults, especially about someone else’s wife. pic.twitter.com/I3FaZbR224

— Trevor Bauer (トレバー・バウアー) (@BauerOutage) February 20, 2021

After exchanging some more words, the two finally called it a night. With the addition of the newly-found feud between the two pitchers, it immediately makes it more interesting to compare the two lightning rod pitchers.

If you start with Bauer, his best season was last year’s campaign, in which he used to earn his massive contract that he got with the Dodgers. In 11 starts last season, Bauer compiled a 1.73 ERA last season, striking out 100 batters and earning a WHIP of 0.795. This was the best season of Bauer’s career so far, outside of his 2018 season in Cleveland. In his other seasons, he has had an ERA of over 4.00.

Syndergaard’s best season came in 2016, when he pitched to a 2.60 ERA, struck out 218 batters, and registered a WHIP of 1.149. Syndergaard, if his rehabilitation goes well, is projected to return around May or June.

If there is one thing that separates the two pitchers, it is the way they use their pitches. While Syndergaard likes to use a wide variety of pitches to get his strikeouts, Bauer heavily relies on his fastball. As shown in the chart below, Bauer used his fastball over 40% of his pitches last season.

As you can see below, Syndergaard uses his sinker just as much as he uses his fastball.

Something that is oddly similar between the two is that both Bauer and Syndergaard struggle in allowing stolen bases. Bauer allowed the sixth most stolen bases in the National League last season. In his 2016 season, Syndergaard allowed an insane, league-leading 48 stolen bases against. It would be interesting to see what his ERA would have been that season had he not allowed all of those stolen bases.

The Syndergaard-Bauer rivalry is now the second rivalry that a player on the Mets has with an NL West powerhouse team. You only need to go back to 2019 to relive the feud between Pete Alonso and Padres pitcher Chris Paddack.

Back when Alonso and Paddack were rookies, Paddack was upset because he was not receiving enough spotlight for Rookie of the Year. Although Alonso won Rookie of the Year, both him and Paddack took a step back in performance during the 2020 season. While Alonso is still slotted in to be the starting first baseman on the Mets, Paddack’s spot in the rotation is in jeopardy due to the moves the Padres made this offseason. That adds another layer of intrigue to the rivalry between the two players, which comes at a time when both teams are on an upward momentum swing.

While the Mets certainly have to deal with the tough teams in their own division, if they want to go deep in the playoffs, they will have to fight through the NL West as well. Both the Dodgers and Padres have loaded themselves with talent this offseason, especially in their starting rotations. The fact that Mets players have begun to feud with players on both of those teams adds another level of intensity to what were already heated matchups on paper. The Mets and Dodgers are not slated to play each other until the middle of August, when they’ll play seven times in ten days. With divisional races likely to be hot, and Syndergaard potentially back from injury, baseball fans could be in for must-watch games between the two teams.