Yet another incredible job by Noah Syndergaard who once again came up huge in a big-time game for the Mets on Sunday night.
In a gutty performance, the rookie right-hander was initially greeted by a home run off the bat of Anthony Rendon in the first inning, but Thor kept his cool and delivered eight strong innings allowing just two earned runs and striking out nine.
It was the second straight start for Syndergaard in which he went eight innings and had no walks and nine strikeouts. Only two other Met pitchers have ever performed the feat, Pedro Martinez in 2005 and Dwight Gooden in 1984.
Overall for the season Syndergaard has issued just 20 walks while striking out an even 100 batters. The strikeouts are the fourth-most in Mets history for a pitcher in his first 15 career games behind Dwight Gooden (113), Matt Harvey (109) and Nolan Ryan (106).
I don’t know what else to say about Noah Syndergaard that hasn’t been said a thousand times already. His demeanor, confidence, and the way he carries himself would indicate he’s a ten year veteran and not the 22 year old rookie he is.
And it’s remarkable to see how quickly he’s adapted to pitching at this level. When he was promoted from Triple-A, several writers who were citing scouts said that Syndergaard was just a hard thrower and not really a pitcher, but I haven’t seen that at all. This kid can pitch and utilizes his full compliment of plus-pitches.
And let’s not forget some of the reports that called him immature and too emotional. I haven’t seen any of that either. Instead we have a very intense and level-headed young man who is humble and mature beyond his years.
I’ve heard when he’s not pitching, that he likes to hang around Bartolo Colon, Jon Niese and Matt Harvey and enjoys picking their brains and learning how to hone his craft and improve as a situational pitcher.
It’s exciting to think that we’ve only seen the tip of the iceberg with Syndergaard, and the best is yet to come. I mean he’s about 4-5 years away from reaching his prime. The thought of that just boggles my mind.
