March 1
I just wanted to quickly update this post on Syndergaard with something Mike Puma tweeted last night.
Syndergaard’s performance opened eyes. “What I saw yesterday, he’s Dwight Gooden when he was 19 years old,” a NYM talent evaluator said.
Hat tip to srt.
Also, it’s amazing how this morning there are no less than a half dozen Mets articles crying for Syndergaard to start the season with the Mets despite never having thrown a pitch above Double-A or thrown a pitch in a Spring Training game yet.
Be real people….
February 28
John Harper of the Daily News is daring Sandy Alderson to put his money where his mouth is. Essentially he’s saying that if he really wants to win 90 games to prove it by keeping his top players on the team – Super Two be damned.
It didn’t take long for Terry Collins to plant the seed. Noah Syndergaard was still icing his shoulder following a dazzling five-strikeout stint in the Mets’ intrasquad game, and the manager already seemed to be implying that it won’t be easy to keep him off the Opening Day roster.
“There’s going to be some more (internal) discussion about him as we get into this camp,” Collins said, “because he’s going to light some eyes up, no question about it.”
Feel free to read that as him saying: “Please let me have the kid.”
And you can’t blame him.
Harper says that if Alderson thinks the Mets should win 90 games in 2014, as he told Collins and his staff this week, the manager has a right to expect the front office to give him the best possible roster.
However it’s not that simple. Given the fact that the Mets are going to cap Syndergaard’s innings to a total of 150-160, what good would it do to have him start the season with the Mets only to be shutdown in early August?
I would rather see the Mets send Syndergaard to Vegas, limit his starts to five innings, skip a start after every four, and then bring him up in June regardless of whether we are in a Wild Card race or not as long as he warrants a promotion. I want to see Thor pitch for the Mets through September and know he’s ready to go in 2015 when he’ll be able to pitch 180-190 innings.
If Syndergaard blows batters away like I hope and expect he will this Spring, most of us will salivate at the thought of having him become a fixture in the rotation as soon as April. It’s natural for us to want to see him or any other phenom have a tremendous spring training and make the team. But we should also temper our enthusiasm, bite our tongues, and think about the big picture.
I believe with all my heart that Syndergaard is the real deal and will ultimately become the best pitcher in our rotation. One look at this young giant’s imposing presence on the mound and the only thing that comes to mind is SHEER DOMINANCE.
No matter what Thor does this Spring, lets keep our wits about us and let him go to Vegas. Then he can join the Mets when the timing and the circumstances are right. Let’s not screw this up.
(Photo: Brad Barr, USATSI)
