Yoenis Cespedes’ flashy array of high end cars might have been the talking point outside Tradition Field in Port St. Lucie, but the mid-90s fastball being tossed effortlessly Thursday morning was the talk inside of camp.
Noah Syndergaard’s live batting-practice session was the talk of Mets camp on Thursday, as selected Minor Leaguers stood in the batter’s box to simulate game action. The nickname “Thor” is perfect to describe Syndergaard, who stands at 6’6” with his golden hair flowing from his Mets cap. And while this Thor doesn’t wield a magical hammer, he does possess a golden arm, which he described as being in mid-season form after he retired his final batter.
“I wish I really knew the answer to why I feel like I’m already in midseason form,” Syndergaard said. “I kind of shocked myself how good I feel so early in Spring Training.”
This is the first year that Syndergaard enters camp with a guaranteed spot in the rotation, and that peace of mind seems to give him a kind of swagger and the right amount of cockiness he needs to continue to blossom into one of the best pitchers in the game.
When asked about his expectations for this upcoming season, Syndergaard offered this blunt assertion,
“I can’t imagine what it’s going to be like this year,” Syndergaard said. “I think we’re going to go back to the World Series and win it all.”
Along with his mound presence and dominating repertoire, fans have flocked to Syndergaard for statements like that. He’s not afraid to speak his mind, and is clearly enjoying every second of being a part of this once in a generation rotation. And while he seems pegged as the number three starter in the rotation, many scouts feel that he has the best stuff on the staff.
What’s exciting is that Syndergaard should be able to throw well over 200 innings this year. Including the playoffs and minor leagues, Syndergaard pitched 198 2/3 innings last season, which was 63 2/3 more than he’s ever thrown professionally. While that’s a considerable increase in workload, Syndergaard’s tremendous build and fluid pitching motion seem to give him an edge in terms of preventing future injury.
And we’ve only witnessed a very small sample of what he can accomplish. To put into context what Syndergaard accomplished last year, I looked at several comparable rookie seasons of other hard-throwing right-handers.
Regular Season Stats:
Syndergaard: 9-7 3.24 ERA 150 IP 166 K 114 ERA+ 1.047 WHIP
Justin Verlander: 17-9 3.63 ERA 186 IP 124 K 125 ERA+ 1.328 WHIP
Kevin Brown: 12-9 3.35 ERA 191 IP 104 K 119 ERA+ 1.241 WHIP
Roger Clemens: 9-4 4.32 ERA 133.1 IP 126 K 97 ERA+ 1.313 WHIP
Syndergaard’s numbers clearly hold well against the other three righties. I expect his strikeout totals to also keep rising, as he’s working on adding a fourth pitch to his arsenal, a slider. Looking further into his strikeout numbers, last year he averaged exactly 10 strikeouts per 9 innings. Clayton Kershaw, last year’s strikeout leader, didn’t average 10 strikeouts until 2014, his 7th year in the bigs. Felix Hernandez has never averaged 10 per 9.
Kevin Plawecki was his catcher on Thursday in Florida, and was taken aback by how free and easy Syndergaard was throwing, especially considering how early in camp it is.
“I was telling him that his command was in midseason form, his off-speed was midseason form,” Plawecki said. “He had good break in his breaking ball. His slider was really good. A couple of changeups he pushed a little bit, but he made the adjustment. He came back and threw some great ones at the end.”
Teammates were watching in awe as Syndergaard tossed his 25 pitch session, even drawing owner Fred and Jeff Wilpon over to catch a glimpse. “That ball is moving two feet,” manager Terry Collins said as he watched with delight. Come April, fans too will watch in awe and delight when they’ll flock to Citi Field to catch their own glimpse of Thor, armed with their plastic faux hammers in hand.
