Ed Delany/MMO

On Saturday afternoon, at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C., New York Mets right-hander Noah Syndergaard will kick off his 2019 campaign against a more-than-worthy adversary in Nationals righty Stephen Strasburg.

With a revamped lineup, solidified bullpen, and high-powered starting rotation, the Mets are primed for a turnaround this season — and Syndergaard’s performance will be essential to the team’s success. For the 26-year-old, six-foot-six Texan, the 2019 season also represents a chance for Syndergaard to lift himself back into the stratosphere of major league pitching.

Over his four-year MLB career, he owns a 2.93 earned-run average (fourth-best among qualified starters since 2015), 2.67 fielding independent pitching rating (second-best since 2015), 9.9 strikeouts and 2.0 walks per nine innings, respectively, and a 1.13 WHIP rating, good for 15th best among qualified hurlers since his major league debut.

Despite missing nearly all of the 2017 season due to a torn lateral muscle suffered during the second inning of his fifth start of the season, in Washington (just a note: Syndergaard owned a 1.73 ERA and .230/.235/.300 slash line against over his first four starts that year; 26 innings pitched), the right-hander came back to enjoy a solid season last year, albeit one littered with minor — and in some cases downright strange — injuries.

Over 25 starts in 2018 (154.1 innings), Syndergaard pitched to a 3.03 ERA (eighth-best among NL starters with over 150 innings pitched), with 9.04 strikeouts per nine (11th in NL), 2.27 walks per nine (10th-least), and a 2.80 FIP rating (fourth-best in the NL). And that was coming off a basically lost season and, in turn, off-kilter offseason. Of course, that’s not to say this past offseason didn’t have its own, hmm, let’s say quirks.

Syndergaard has emerged as a strong voice in the Mets clubhouse over the last few years, to outstanding results in this writer’s opinion; he’s very well-spoken and seems to have his fingers on the pulse of the game and its fans), accentuated of course by the opinions he publicly shared this past week.

His concerns over the team’s travel schedule, et al leading up to Opening Day in Washington D.C. were well justified and, thankfully, the Mets didn’t appear any worse for the wear on Thursday, as evidenced by deGrom’s strong showing, Robinson Cano‘s offensive output, and the team’s all-around solid play.

Very early on in Mets general manager Brodie Van Wagenen’s tenure this offseason, Syndergaard’s name was being tossed around in trade discussions, with the San Diego Padres (who are still in the market for front-line rotation help) leading the way in those rumors (Cincinnati, Milwaukee, and Colorado were also rumored to be kicking tires).

Whether Van Wagenen and the Mets valued Syndergaard’s unquestionable talent and potential to continue to produce at a high level, or simply didn’t receive the offer they were looking for from the handful of teams that were reportedly interested in the 26-year-old will remain unknown.

But if Noah Syndergaard can pitch to the level he’s capable of and appears to be ready to do (1.88 ERA, 19 strikeouts, seven walks over four Grapefruit League starts; 14.1 innings), he could very well be next in line to commit a substantial chunk of his career to this franchise, as well as the next to be handsomely rewarded to do so.

With a full winter to train, as well as his potential future in New York looming heavily on the minds of the organization and fans alike after Jacob deGrom signed his five-year, $137.5 million agreement earlier this week, this season is lining up to be an extremely important year for the big righty.

Here’s hoping Noah Syndergaard just goes out and does what he does — intimidate and baffle hitters with his dastardly array of heat and off-speed stuff. And if anyone happens to take exception to his menacing mound presence, they know exactly where to find him.