*Above photo is courtesy of Randy Medina/The Apple
The following is a guest article written by Cameron LaBrutto.
The New York Mets have officially placed Pitcher Dillon Gee on the 15-day DL leaving a spot open the starting rotation.The Mets have decided to call up Noah Syndergaard from Triple-A and he will make his much anticipated ML debut Tuesday vs. the Chicago Cubs.
This has been a long time coming for Mets fans, as the hype surrounding him has been tremendous and they are excited to see the man nicknamed “Thor” in the big leagues. Their excitement does not come without merit as Syndergaad has dominated Triple-A so far this year, and the Mets brass have decided he’s ready.
Over Syndergaard’s last 5 starts in Las Vegas Thor has gone 3-0, sporting a 1.82 ERA, with a 34/8 K/BB ratio over 29 2/3 innings. This has gained him high praise from the Mets GM Sandy Alderson saying on Friday night n Philadelphia
“He’s certainly done a nice job there to date, given his last 3 starts have been overpowering, so from that standpoint, we think he’s deserving and he’ll be here to pitch.”
Noah has not had an easy ride leading up to his big league debut, as incredible as 2015 has been for him, 2014 was a different story, and the Mets felt that he just was not ready for the ML. This was credited to his “one dimensional” pitching approach he tried in 2014, getting away from what led him to so much success earlier in his career. He was able to get back to his previous style this year and it has shown, utilizing all of his pitches, while being able to routinely overpower hitters, also gaining control tossing all his pitches for strikes.
Mets Catcher Kevin Plawecki said of Noah “I just saw a different guy on the mound. Just his aggressiveness, his demeanor this year was different from last year.” he told Adam Rubin of ESPN New York. “It probably has to do with his mentality, just knowing he’s one of the best pitchers coming up in the game. Once he realizes that, he’s lights out. I think that’s what he’s starting to do, that’s been fun to watch.”
Noah boasts a tremendous skill set that should transition nicely to the pros. Standing at an intimidating 6 feet 6 inches, weighing 240 LBS, this allows him to throw strikes with ease and pound the bottom of the strike zone generating a plethora of ground balls, and strike outs thus far. Then come his pitches, Noah’s fastball is constantly 92-95 MPH but previously reaching 98, his curve ball that he has great control of also being able to add and subtract from the velocity makes this an insane 2nd pitch option, and one of his most underrated pitches his change up which he feels is “solid.”
This unfortunately will no doubt effect the Triple-A Las Vegas 51’s. This will be a huge loss for the team and they will sadly probably lose a few more games this year. But being a Triple-A affiliate, they are used to it, and can always brag about helping produce a Major League baseball player. The call up will give other great Mets prospects their time to shine, and help the 51’s.
It is not clear how many starts Noah will get while Gee is on the DL, the Mets are hoping for 3 full starts to break him in. That leads to the question, what happens when Gee gets healthy again? Dillon has pitched tremendously this year helping the Mets starting rotation post a 2.96 ERA, this may be a permanent replacement depending how this short tryout goes. Dillon could also be used as a trading piece to help the Mets gain some desperately needed offense. In any event the entire league is ready to see Syndergaad pitch, if he lives up to his potential the Mets are on course for a “dream team” starting rotation of very young and eager pitchers. As they have been saying around Gotham, “the future is now.”
