Noah Syndergaard closed out his fifth season in the big leagues this Sunday and did so on a high note, tossing seven innings against the Atlanta Braves while allowing just three earned runs and registering nine strikeouts.
This was his just his second major league season amassing at least 30 starts. In his 32nd and final outing yesterday afternoon, Thor became only the fifth Mets pitcher with multiple 200+ strikeout seasons.
Syndergaard, 27, will finish the campaign with a 10-8 record, 4.28 ERA, 3.61 FIP, 1.234 WHIP, and 202 strikeouts.
The Texas native experienced a down year in 2019, tossing the most innings of his career and reaching career highs in ERA, WHIP, home runs and walks.
For the second half of the season, Syndergaard had an ERA of 3.28 in 15 starts, compared to the first half of the year where he had a 4.68 ERA in 17 games.
While the right-hander did struggle with inconsistency-specifically citing a lack of confidence in his slider that persisted all year-his season did exhibit many inspiring highlights. Along with his 2o2 strikeouts, he was one of just six pitchers in the National League with twelve starts of at least seven innings.
The righty also recorded the second complete-game shutout of his career in 2019, doing so while registering ten strikeouts and hitting the Mets’ game-winning homer-for the only run of the afternoon.
Syndergaard is arbitration-eligible in 2020 and can become a free agent in 2022. While his name surfaced in trade rumors this past offseason and ahead of the July trade deadline, the starter says he is confident he will remain in the orange and blue coming when spring training rolls around. It’s tough to envision how the Mets would replace him.
