Last Friday night, at arguably the fulcrum point of the New York Mets’ season, the team chose to disregard their undisputed no. 2 starter’s wishes, pairing right-hander Noah Syndergaard with offensively-capable but defensively-challenged backstop, Wilson Ramos to face the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The plan blew up in the Mets’ face, with Noah allowing four runs on five hits over five innings of work and, in turn, setting the team’s postseason hopes back considerably in the process.
With the stark contrast in Syndergaard’s effectiveness between throwing to Ramos (5.20 ERA over 16 starts; 97 IP) or backup catchers Tomas Nido (2.45 ERA over 10 starts; 66 IP) and Rene Rivera (seven scoreless innings on September 2 in Washington), especially considering the Mets’ standings in the NL Wild Card race at the time, most interested parties are still scratching their heads over the team’s tone-deafness to the situation.
The media hubbub that followed the very public reports of Syndergaard’s displeasure pitching to Ramos (nothing personal, Buffalo) was an ill-timed distraction for a Mets squad that needed nothing of the sort at that time.
The incredible second-half surge this team has put together has been thrilling. The Mets never had a clear path to a postseason berth due to their slow start, so taking advantage of changes, winning games, and hoping for external help was their only option.
Not putting your second-best starting pitcher in an optimal position to succeed simply isn’t conducive to the master plan of creating some magic in Queens this season. It really makes you wonder what’s going on behind the scenes at Tom Seaver Way in Flushing.
After Monday night’s loss to Colorado dropped them five games back of the second NL Wild Card spot, only now has the team decided to adhere to Syndergaard’s wishes. On Wednesday afternoon in Denver, the 26-year-old right-hander will have Rivera as his batterymate.
Absolutely mind-boggling stuff, folks.
