Noah Syndergaard, the 6’6″ intimidating right-hander of the New York Mets has brought some much needed thunder to this ball club. In game three of the 2015 World Series, Thor took the ball for a team that needed something to infuse some extra zest into a team that was down 2-0. With the very first pitch of that game, he threw an up and in 98 MPH fastball to Alcides Escobar, putting the batter and the rest of the Royals on notice. He will not be toyed with.
Frank Viola, former Mets pitcher and now pitching coach for their minor league affiliate, 51s was quite proud of the pitcher his former apprentice had become as he told Kristie Ackert of the NY Daily News. The fierceness he showed on that cold October night was something Viola had been waiting to see from him for some time.
“Then I got the text from him. It said the same thing he said in public. If the Royals didn’t like it he was 60-feet, 6-inches away, I was even prouder,” Viola said. “We spent a lot of time getting him mentally ready, mentally tough. He is now.” (NY Daily News)
Syndergaard, 23, who has slowly become the most talked about pitcher in this rotation for the right reasons is due to make his season debut Tuesday night against the same Royals team who he lit a fire under. Not only is he armed with a 100 MPH fastball, but he has now developed a mean streak on the mound to back up his power pitches, as the Royals saw first hand. Viola has liked what he has seen from Syndergaard in his short time in the majors, but like any pitcher it took some time for him to get to this point.
“He was always going to be a good pitcher, but he’s come a long way. We had to get his attention and get him to calm down,” Viola said. “I think in 2014, the thing that changed for him was becoming friends with Logan Verrett, who became like a big brother. After not getting the September call-ups, they drove home to Texas together. It was good for Noah.”
Verrett and Syndergaard formed a bond that has been very beneficial for both young players. Logan seems to have become a mentor to Noah early in his career. Verrett helped to groom Syndergaard to be more comfortable with himself when being called up, as he is admittedly a shy person around those he may not know and it previously had shown while being interviewed by the media.
“He has a great sense of humor and he’s really funny,” Verrett said, “so when you saw him interviewed at first, you could see he was uncomfortable. He wasn’t himself.”
Pitching coach Dan Warthen used certain loose type exercises to get Syndergaard to lighten up more. As being comfortable with ones self is only going to boost your confidence when it counts. Warthen helped to have Syndergaard loosen his grip on the ball as well while he held it.
“The funny thing is, I always felt like you had to be that amped up and hold the ball tight to throw it hard,” Syndergaard said. “That was all wrong. I loosened up my grip and relaxed on the mound and I still threw hard.
Verrett, who did not make the postseason roster watched from Port St. Lucie as his good friend took the mound, and commanded it on Halloween night.
“I loved it. Coming out to the Halloween theme that night. That’s Noah’s sense of humor,” Verrett said. “And then when he threw that message pitch, I shouted at the TV. He wasn’t trying to hurt anybody, he was establishing himself and keeping them off balance. It worked. He was making himself comfortable.”
Syndergaard will face off against Chris Young and the Royals once again today. at 4:15 PM EST. It will be interesting to see if there will be anymore fireworks between the god of thunder and the world champion Royals.
