Anthony DiComo of MLB.com reports that Noah Syndergaard could appear in spring training games as early as March 2nd against the Marlins, Terry Collins told reporters after Monday’s loss to the Astros.
Collins also said the rest of the rotation, Matt Harvey, Jacob deGrom, Steven Matz, Robert Gsellman, and Zack Wheeler, would begin pitching after that.
In 30 starts in 2016, Syndergaard went 14-9 with a 2.60 ERA and 218 strikeouts in 183.2 innings. His 2.29 FIP was best in the Major Leagues among qualifying pitchers, as was his 0.5 HR/9. He finished 8th in NL Cy Young voting.
Thor, 24, reported to camp having gained 17 pounds of muscle this offseason with the goal to throw harder, despite already having the hardest fastball and slider among starting pitchers by far. It seems we will see the product of that extra muscle as early as this Thursday.
