Noah Syndergaard allowed a run on two hits while striking out four over three innings in his third start of the spring Sunday against the Houston Astros.
The right-hander caught George Springer, Michael Brantley, Alex Bregman, and Jack Mayfield looking at strike three. Syndergaard retired the side in order in the first and second inning before allowing consecutive doubles, which put the Mets in a one-run deficit.
Through three appearances this spring, the 27-year-old Syndergaard has totaled 8.0 innings pitched with 11 strikeouts and no walks.
“It’s just confidence, confidence in my delivery,” he said. “Just trusting it and trying to be as rhythmic as possible.”
Both Brantley and Bregman were called out on 98 mph sinkers, while Syndergaard worked in a changeup and slider to ring up Mayfield and Springer.
“Great outing, blending his pitches well,” Mets manager Luis Rojas said.
Syndergaard’s slider was his fourth-most used pitch in 2019 (15.2 percent, according to Baseball Savant) but he has made a concerted effort to work it in more thus far in 2020.
“It just expands his repertoire even more,” Rojas said of Syndergaard’s comfort level with the slider. “He’s always been known as a power pitcher, and I know he’s had a curveball there that separates his velocity, but this is more of an action pitch for him.”
Rojas said Syndergaard has worked closely with first-year pitching coach Jeremy Hefner on sharpening the slider.
Syndergaard was the center of another viral moment on Saturday when he was caught by SNY cameras on a backfield shirtless and covered in motion capture sensors.
“I thought that was great,” he said on Sunday. “Where baseball is going, having access to the data and technology and not using it in a cheating way,” a clear allusion to today’s opponent.
Syndergaard said Saturday’s use of the sensors were more along the lines of establishing a baseline record of his performance. At this point, he doesn’t know what specific data can be gleaned from it.
The remainder of the Mets’ spring training schedule shakes out in a way that would allow Syndergaard to make three more starts and be on normal rest for the second game of the regular season, March 28 against the Washington Nationals.
Syndergaard his entering his sixth major league season and his penultimate year before becoming eligible for free agency. He finished 11th in the National League with a 3.60 FIP in 2019 but lead the circuit with 94 earned runs allowed.
