Noah Syndergaard only gave up four runs Friday night, and it is an oversimplification to say the problem is the Mets didn’t score for him. But, something just isn’t right.
The issue isn’t him not being able to throw hard. He still throws very hard, but velocity isn’t the most important variable for a pitcher. A successful pitcher needs movement, location and velocity, with speed being the third most important of the three. You can even drop that to fourth if you want to include having a variety of secondary pitches.
While throwing in the high 90s and even touching triple digits in the Mets’ 4-3 loss at Detroit, Syndergaard, as he has been for much of the second half – or at least since the issue of his bone spur surfaced – is far from pitch efficient.
Syndergaard threw 112 pitches, but only worked six innings. It was the fourth straight game in which he threw over 100 pitches yet didn’t go past the sixth. He hasn’t gone seven innings since July 3; of his 21 starts, he’s gone seven or more innings just eight times.
“My pitch counts get escalated within the first three innings and I go, ‘Crap, I better get some quick outs here and save the bullpen.’ It’s nice to be able to go six, but I’d like to be able to go deeper into the game with a lot more ease.”
I don’t care Syndergaard is throwing a lot of pitches; I care he’s not as efficient as he used to be and that he’s not been as effective with them. He seems to be running in place.
“It has been a battle,” manager Terry Collins told reporters. “He’s had to work very hard. You have to learn how to pitch at this level and through tough times.”
While much is made of Syndergaard’s overpowering stuff, he’s only had four double-digit strikeout games with his last being June 15 against Pittsburgh nine starts ago.
We’ve been hearing a lot of the high number of foul balls off him (26 tonight), which comes from not being able to put away hitters. His curveball didn’t surface until the fifth inning. Until then, it was mostly straight fastballs – mostly to the outside against right-handed pitchers.
“I’m thinking right now I’m trying to be too fine with my pitches,” Syndergaard said. “It’s like I’m throwing darts out there. It’s frustrating because the past month I feel that I have the stuff to dominate, but it hasn’t been clicking.”
Do you remember when Syndergaard went high and tight during the World Series? Then he challenged the Royals saying they could find him 60 feet, six inches from the plate? Remember the swagger?
Collins insists Syndergaard still has that swagger, but you rarely see him work the inner half of the plate. You don’t see that biting slider. Where’s the hook from Hell?
“I would say he just hasn’t put anybody away,” Collins said before the game. “He’s allowing them to stay in the counts. He isn’t necessarily falling behind, but they’ll foul a couple of balls off, so it just keeps them in the count instead of putting them away.”
The problem isn’t 100 percent the bone spur because the velocity is still there, but it makes you wonder if the discomfort prevents him from being what he needs to be, and what he has been.
Syndergaard, who is winless in his last five starts, is still a young and exciting talent, but last night he was not as polished as Justin Verlander who has been one of the best for years. Hope Thor was taking notes.
