Noah “Thor” Syndergaard will make his fourth start of Grapefruit League play today against Michael Wacha and the St. Louis Cardinals.
In his last start, Syndergaard pitched five innings and struck out five while allowing one earned run on March 20 vs. Boston. He allowed one earned run over 3.2 innings with three strikeouts on March 15 at Miami and pitched three scoreless innings in his first spring start on March 10 vs. St. Louis with two strikeouts. In fact, Syndergaard retired the first eight batters he faced in that start before allowing a hit to Jeremy Hazelbaker.
Last season, Syndergaard was 9-7 with a 3.24 ERA (54 earned runs/150 innings) in 24 starts for the Mets. He was named to the Topps Rookie All- Star team and logged 166 strikeouts to lead all major league rookies. The 166 strikeouts were the third-most for a Met through 24 starts behind Doc Gooden (193) and Matt Harvey (172). His 9.96 strikeout per 9.0 innings ratio was the second-best mark for a rookie in team history.
Syndergaard also proved he can throw gas, as he hurled 1,421 pitches at 95 mph or faster, the second-most among all major league pitchers (Gerrit Cole had 1,484). His 26 strikeouts tied for second-most by a rookie in postseason history. Syndergaard was the winning pitcher in Game 3 of the World Series vs. Kansas City, becoming the second youngest Met to win a World Series game.
It’s going to be so much fun to watch his development from here.
