Better Not Be Noah Syndergaard’s Last Start
Today is the final game of the season, and Noah Syndergaard is scheduled to pitch. As a result, it will be his final start of the 2019 season. It better not be his final Mets start.
Syndergaard has been a great Mets pitcher. He’s the only Mets pitcher to win a World Series game at Citi Field. He’s gone toe-to-toe with Madison Bumgarner in the postseason. That’s just scratching the surface.
People want to say he’s no longer that pitcher. It’s a bogus narrative. Earlier in the year when the team was more interested in getting the most out of him than sending unnecessary and counterproductive messages, he was great.
From June 9 – August 16, Tomas Nido serving as his catcher, and with him catching most of Syndergaard’s starts, Syndergaard was 5-2 with a 2.75 ERA, 1.139 WHIP, and a 3.2 K/BB.
That’s the Syndergaard we know. Not the guy who struggled with Wilson Ramos, a catcher very ill-suited to catching him. It doesn’t work well. It’s like have a big armed QB, great receivers, and an offensive line who is great at run blocking and suspect at pass blocking.
If the Mets were smart, they’d realize this. They’d also realize Ramos is going to turn 34 next year and has been injury prone in his career. As such, having a pitcher with a personal catcher helps Ramos stay fresh and healthy, much like it did this year.
That’s the decision the Mets face this offseason. Do they keep a great pitcher and set him up to succeed? Do they help get the most out of Ramos? Or do they do what they always do and push false narratives, get rid of a player, and then claim he’d never do that here?
Fact is, if the Mets have any designs on winning in 2020, they need Syndergaard. Instead of talking about getting rid of him, they should be moving to extend him. Of course, that would be a sign this is a competently run franchise who prioritizes winning.
Whatever the case, Syndergaard has been a great Met, and he deserves fan adoration today in the event this is it. That said, it better not be.
Time to trade Noah.
He’s become something of a head case whose lost his swag for far too long and doesn’t seem able to adjust to circumstance of all sort. Blaming it on the catcher is just deflection and excuse-making.. In his last few starts he got his wish and still didn’t pitch well with someone other than Ramos.. Noah himself said that to be elite he has to do a whole lot better and consistently so.
A change in scenery and fresh start helps some players and perhaps that will happen with Noah. In return, we should acquire a big league ready, or close to ready young starter with upside as well as several other youngsters who could become impact players.
If Mets don’t trade Noah, I think he should be moved to the pen where he can focus on 1 or 2 innings at a time as late game reliever not worried about pitching deep into games.
The big splash the Mets could make is signing Gerrit Cole to pair with Degrom. That would be incredible.
They can and I think should try to resign Wheeler.
Lugo is also rotation option. .
Saying Syndergaard should be traded or moved to the bullpen is insane.
Noah to the pen or traded is actually common sense for a guy needing a change who isn’t pitching to expectation and has problems adjusting to a range of circumstance.
Andrew Miller, Dennis Eckersley, Eric Gange, Wade Davis, Zach Britton, are a few examples.
Syndergaard had a poor end of the season with a catcher who is inept at framing the low pitch.
Before that, he pitched at a Cy Young level with capable catchers.
I’d sign Wheeler, and let it be known that for the right return Thor could be had. As someone mentioned earlier a true CFer plus a SP would be a good start.
Note To Mets Daddy:
Quote:
“If the Mets were smart, they’d realize this. They’d also realize Ramos is going to turn 34 next year”
Nothing like putting your foot in your mouth.
Ramos turned 32 in August.
Sorry if I hit 3 instead of 4 on a point which still stands.
Your correction is noted and appreciated re: Ramos’s age.
However, you’re still blaming Syndergaard’s problems on the catching when Syndergaard is the problem.
While I’m all for trading Ramos in attempt to replace with a faster, more nimble catcher who also hits, Syndergaard’s problem is between his ears. He has to learn to be consistently effective pitching to whomever catches, and whomever he faces. He has figured out how to pitch, how to grow his game when what used to work no longer does, and when weaknesses get exploited. Successful players make adjustments. His size and physical presence is no longer enough.
Correction:
Meant to say – He hasn’t figured out how to pitch, rather than what I wrote – He has figured out
He has figured it out.
The numbers all prove it out. Ramos cannot frame the low pitch, and Syndergaard needs that pitch to succeed.
I must confess, I was wrong about these Mets. On March 27th I picked them to win 85.
Tip of the hat to the team. The will was there, but players can’t will themselves to the postseason.
In a weaker NL than last year and excellent health overall from the Mets’ front line talent, this was a terrific time to make the postseason and go deep with a rotation of deGrom, Syndergaard, and Wheeler in the 1-2-3 slots. Sadly the FO signed Jed Lowrie instead of Charlie Morton, pretending Matz was a 4th starter on a contender, went cheap on Ramos v. Grandal, played Nimmo onto the IL for months instead of maybe weeks, and apparently didn’t realize teams in this century use 50+ players during a season, costing them enormously at the back end of the roster. I’m not sure what Wags thought the AAA Syracuse club was for, but someone should have told him that for want of even a single legitimate MLB prospect at that level, more than any other team in the majors he could have stocked it to the rafters with the kind of filler that while it might not win you games, won’t lose you games–that means not Carlos Gomez, and not guys so obviously done that they make plucking Aaron Altherr off the wires seem like your best chance.
As for the Syndergaard debate, he’s probably not the pitcher he was through the end of 2017, and his decline was already clear if fairly trivial during the 2018 season, but he’s still a good pitcher who the FO would be selling low on if they deal him this offseason. Why do that unless the return genuinely improves you? But who is going to give away a solid SP and a starting position player for a pitcher whose luster as a star is significantly diminished? (A lot of people seem to forget he has been in decline since the end of *2016*. 2016 was his peak, and the only time he got even one Cy Young vote, finishing eighth.) Anyway Syndergaard, who is starting to get expensive, will be dealt if he improves the bottom line. Whether he improves the team won’t matter, unfortunately, though I expect him to get dealt for a pre-arb SP with all of one good year under his belt, a very good prospect, a lottery ticket, and some 30 year old catcher so the FO can claim a 4 to 1 ‘win’ on the deal. The Mets will be swindled, in short, and Syndergaard will go on to be an All-Star in Houston, with the Astros winning 109 games next year. The Astros will also lock up Noah for his first 3 FA years for under 60m about a week after they trade for him.
No idea what the thinking is wrt the 2020 rotation. deGrom, Stroman, Matz, and …?