Jonathan Bernhardt of Sports on Earth, picked Noah Syndergaard, Taijuan Walker and Archie Bradley as his 2014 breakout stars.
About Syndergaard he says that even with Travis d’Arnaud on track to begin the season as the Mets’ starting catcher this season, Syndergaard could turn out to be the most valuable player New York acquired in the trade for R.A. Dickey.
“When he was traded, the word out of Toronto was that the Blue Jays were concerned about his ability to stick as a starter once he started to face advanced hitters, but he put those concerns to rest with his work last year.”
One interesting point that Bernhardt made in his article was his belief that Syndergaard won’t stay long in at Triple-A Las Vegas where he’s expected to begin the 2014 season.
“One thing that’s important to remember about pitching prospects especially, is that once they’ve proven they can get outs at Double-A — the level in the minors where pitchers start seeing hitters who can recognize and hit breaking balls, and who don’t routinely chase fastballs out of the zone — there’s rarely any use in sending them to Triple-A for more seasoning there.”
“That’s especially true of Mets pitching prospects, because the Mets’ Triple-A squad is the Las Vegas 51s — a team that plays in what might be the most hitter friendly park in minor league baseball, in what’s certainly the most hitter-friendly league. New York has absolutely no interest keeping Syndergaard in Las Vegas longer than they have to and risk damaging his confidence; Mets fans will see him sooner rather than later…”
I never get tired of reading all the glowing reports and all the raves about Noah Syndergaard. He’s no longer just a Mets phenomenon, Thor has gone National and everybody loves him. Oh yeah… And he’s all ours…
