It’s been an up-and-down season for Noah Syndergaard, who has showed flashes of dominance at times while providing an equal amount of frustration for the Mets and their fans.
Coming off two straight okay outings against the Dodgers and Giants, Syndergaard was faced with the tough task of facing the Colorado Rockies’ offense, who rank second in the National League in runs scored.
On Sunday, however, Syndergaard provided one of his best starts of the season in the Mets’ 6-1 victory over the Rockies. He pitched seven innings, allowing just one hit and striking out seven while walking two. He threw 98 pitches, 68 for strikes.
He started off the game on a strong note, striking out Charlie Blackmon on a 92 mph changeup. The changeup has been a very effective pitch for him this year, as batters have hit for just a .192 wOBA off it this year.
Syndergaard then walked Trevor Story, but he made an impressive pickoff throw to record the second out, then struck out David Dahl with a 98 mph fastball. That hard fastball was working well for Syndergaard, as he completed five of his seven strikeouts with the offering. While he wasn’t reaching the 100s as in the past, he was still pumping it in the upper-90s with regularity and command, a key to his successful outing.
The only hit he gave up came leading off the second inning, when Nolan Arenado hit a ground ball the opposite way that Adeiny Hechavarria could not quite get to. Had Hechavarria made that play, Syndergaard could have been looking at a chance at history. Instead, he had to settle for a merely dominant outing.
Syndergaard then retired the next 11 batters before issuing his second walk of the day in the fifth. He settled right back down though, retiring seven in a row before Mickey Callaway decided to take him out after 98 pitches.
While Syndergaard wasn’t perfect, he was pretty darn close. His performance was just the tenth time in Mets history that a starter has thrown at least seven scoreless innings while allowing no more than one hit since 2008 (via MMO’s Mathew Brownstein).
After yesterday’s dominance, Syndergaard lowered his ERA to 4.45 and his FIP to 3.47. He owns a 8.90 K/9 and 2.20 BB/9 in 89 innings this season.
The Syndergaard that Mets fans were expecting definitely showed up in this game, providing some hope that he is going to turn things around and find more consistency. This was Syndergaard’s second start this season of such high quality, the first coming against the Reds on May 2nd when he fired a four-hit shutout with ten strikeouts.
A big issue with him this season has been consistency, however, so while this performance was very encouraging, his next couple starts will be very important to see if he can be a reliable ace of this pitching staff.
Regardless, Syndergaard showed in this start why he is so talented and why you don’t just give up on him after a few rough starts. Things this season haven’t gone exactly the way he would have liked, but considering his talent, age, and signs of dominance, there is a lot to be excited for going for going forward with Syndergaard.
