Despite a year marred by injury, Mets right-hander Noah Syndergaard has been ranked the No. 7 pitcher in all of baseball according to MLB Network.
The 25-year-old missed a majority of last season with a partially torn lat muscle in his right arm sustained in an April game against the Washington Nationals.
He got into just seven games for New York in 2017, logging a 1-2 record with a 2.97 ERA in 30.1 innings pitched.
However, if he can get back on track and stay healthy this year and repeat his 2016 campaign where he went 14-9 with a 2.60 ERA in 30 starts, the ranking is warranted.
So far this offseason, Syndergaard has been working on becoming a more well-rounded athlete.
“All my workouts right now are being programmed by [trainers] Eric Cressey and Shane Rye,” he said. “It’s my first offseason working with them after working with them a little bit during the season. I feel like those guys are second to none in the business in terms of, not only baseball players, but just general public or any other sport.”
Syndergaard said he has known who Cressey was since his time with the Toronto Blue Jays, but said his contact with him was limited due to the trainer being based primarily in Boston.
“Those guys are at the top of their game and are always trying to learn more about the human body and how it functions,” he said. “I’m still lifting heavy, but in a smarter way. Last year was not necessarily the most smart thing I was supposed to be doing in terms of exercises.
“For example, last year, I was doing a lot of pull-ups which is primarily a lat exercise. This year, I haven’t done a pull-up yet. It’s different, it’s still taxing workouts, but I have never felt better.”
A notable snub from MLB Network’s Top 10 list was fellow Met Jacob deGrom, who is coming off a year in which he fired over 200 innings and registered 15 wins. However, it is nice to see Syndergaard get some recognition. Hopefully, good health will bless the Mets in 2018 so we can see them put it all on the field.
