Mets
Noah Syndergaard Shows Signs Of Brillance
Mets top pitching prospect does well in his long awaited debut.
On Tuesday night the Mets top pitching prospect Noah Syndergaard made his long anticipated major league debut against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field and even though the end result was not what Mets fans may have expected, he still looked good.
Since coming over to the Mets in a trade with the Toronto Blue Jays in 2012, the hype surrounding the 6’6″ right hander has been close to rock star status.
In 2013, he started his Mets career with Class-A Advanced St. Lucie Mets and in 12 starts he was 3-3, with a 3.11 ERA and 64 strike outs in 63.2 innings. That same summer, Syndergaard was promoted to the Double-A Binghamton Mets and in 11 starts, he finished 6-1, with a 3.00 ERA, with 69 strike outs in 54 innings.
After a great first season with his new club, he was promoted to Triple-A Las Vegas 51’s and in 2014, he started 26 games, posting a 9-7 record, a 4.60 ERA, and 145 strike outs in 133 innings.
Last summer, there was a great anticipation that Syndergaard would be promoted sometime that year, but Mets brass felt he just wasn’t ready and kept him in Vegas all season.
That move may have been a great benefit for the 22-year old Texas native as he has shown in his five starts with the 51’s this season great poise and confidence as he posted a 3-0 record, with a 1.82 ERA and 34 strike outs in 29.2 innings. His great start and the need for help in the rotation on the big club led to his promotion and debut on Tuesday.
In the bottom of the first, the rookie pitcher showcased a bit of his talented arm as he struck out Dexter Fowler on a 82 MPH Curve ball. He escaped the inning retiring the Cubs in order.
In the second, he found himself in a bit of trouble after giving up a one-out single to Jorge Soler, but struck out Starlin Castro and then pitcher Jake Arrieta, on another 82 MPH curve ball, to end the inning.
In the third, he once again escaped a jam as he was able to induce a fly ball out from Soler with the bases loaded. Syndergaard then enjoyed another good inning as he retired the Cubs in order in the bottom of the fourth striking out Arrieta again to end the inning and escaped a triple by Kris Bryant in the 5th to keep the Cubs scoreless and his team in the game.
But his luck would run out in the bottom of the sixth as the Cubs struck for three straight hits to start the inning, with a single by Soler, and RBI double by Castro and a two run home run by Chris Coghlan to quickly put Chicago up 3-0. After striking out Arrieta for the third time in the game, Syndergaard was removed after tossing 103 pitches.
His final line, 5.1 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 4 BB, 6 K , HR, but more importantly he looked dominate at times as he was able to work himself out of trouble. The young rookie pitcher could say that nerves played a part to his struggles, but the bigger picture is that the Mets finally did what they have been promising the fans and their top pitcher actually performed well enough for a victory.
Maybe in his next start the offense will actually score some runs for their future Ace.
David Conde
David is the Co-Founder and Executive Editor of Legends On Deck®, as well as a Co-Host on Legends On Deck Podcast. David was a Senior Editor for MetsMerizedOnline.com, MetsMinors.net and Contributor for Hardballchat.com that spanned from 2010 to 2014. David made his MLB Debut as a writer in June 2014, while covering the NY Mets at Citi Field, for MetsmerizedOnline.com. David also coaches baseball for ages 13-15, a Babe Ruth League team in his local community. David's passion is coaching the game he loves to the future Legends of Tomorrow as well as making available a website that people can have fun sharing and reading. David is also passionate about his career as a Mortgage Loan Officer which allows him to help many families reach their dreams of owning a home. Connect with David via his Social Media pages as he loves to chat all about baseball.
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