Noah Syndergaard was not like his September 2018 self yesterday. Noah did a good job of pitching inside last season, something Dave Eiland has been preaching since being hired. Noah did a good job of pitching in to left handed hitters yesterday but for righties, it was a different story.
The third inning was probably the most difficult inning for Noah. He gave up a homer to Victor Robles and a RBI single to Juan Soto among some more hits. Soto and Adam Eaton were the two lefties he faced that inning. Eaton was pitched so inside that he ended up getting hit by a pitch that inning. Soto got two pitches in before taking a pitch down in the zone to left field for his single. Noah Attacked him properly but the result was just not there. The righties in the inning got pitched mostly away and it was a trend that was seen in the whole game.
Here was his pitch chart against righties:
(Image courtesy of Baseball Savant)
Aside from a couple of pitches here or there, most of them were in the zone or away. Righties did most of the damage today off Syndergaard save for Juan Soto.
Righties are more likely to be set up away against Syndergaard if they see he is not pitching in which negates his slider. His slider only one swing and miss during the whole game on Saturday. Funny enough, it was his change up that got the whiffs. He threw 15 but got six swings and misses.
A positive thing for Noah was his consistency in release points.
(Image courtesy of Baseball Savant)
All of Noah’s release points came out at roughly the same position which makes prevents him from tipping his pitches and taking an advantage away from the Nationals. Noah’s velocity does not give hitters a lot of time to adjust so that is why he looks utterly dominant at times.
It was not a good start for Noah but the Mets still got a win and he had some positives to look at. The good news for the Mets and Syndergaard is, he will likely correct himself and go back to pitching inside to righties like he did in 2018. Assuming the Mets continue to follow the same order, he will have another crack at the Nationals next Thursday in the Mets home opener.
