Noah Syndergaard took the mound today for his Binghamton debut — and this was a huge step forward for the 20-year old. He was taken out of the game with 88 pitches under his belt — and he still had a lot left in the tank. He was impressive over a solid six innings of work, allowing two earned runs off five hits and a walk, while striking out seven. Syndergaard was incredibly efficient with his strike:ball ratio, with 62 of his 88 pitches going for strikes.
The only blemish on this outing was the third inning, where he allowed three straight hits to begin: a triple, a single, and a double. Two runs scored with none out, but Syndergaard induced a soft ground out and then Joe Bonfe gunned down Jamie Johnson, who was trying to score on a fly ball, to end the inning. It was relatively smooth sailing for the prospect after that, as he finished up his afternoon with his last out being a strikeout.
He might have been out there longer in a close game, but Richard Lucas, Cesar Puello, and Rhyne Hughes each drilled a home run to support their new teammate — with Lucas slamming a second one for good measure.
Needless to say, I believe this is a glimpse into the future of Syndergaard, who is perhaps in battle with Rafael Montero to be our top pitching prospect right now.
Syndergaard’s line: 6.0 IP, 5 H, 1 BB, 2 ER, 7 K
Remember, we’ve got John Bernhardt and Gordon Donovan at the game — so expect pictures and some great notes via John’s charting later on.
