Noah Syndergaard
Well, no one is whining over losing Brandon Nimmo, Pete Alonso, and Jeff McNeil. David Stearns has drastically and dramatically remade the New York Mets into possibly the best team in baseball.
They recently made huge additions with Bo Bichette and Louis Robert Jr. (two moves requiring overdue posts). Stearns then took a big swing trading for Freddy Peralta and Tobias Myers.
People will say Peralta was needed because the Mets rotation was bad. They were very wrong. That said, Peralta is a very good pitcher, and when you can add a very good pitcher, you do it.
Peralta makes the Mets rotation better in so many ways.
He was 24th in the majors in innings pitched, and he’s made 30+ starts in three consecutive years. He was 17th in the majors in FIP and 15th in WAR. He was seventh in ERA and eighth in ERA+.
While you may uncomfortable calling him an ace, he’s a number one starter. It’s a fact. When there are 30 MLB teams are you’re top 25 and better in most categories, you’re a number one.
When a team adds a number one starter, it dramatically improves their outlook. Go back to 2000. Mike Hampton wasn’t an ace, but he was a true number one, and he was a big piece that helped the Mets win the pennant.
Peralta may not even be the Mets best starter. That is probably Nolan McLean. It’s hard to find a better 1-2 in baseball than Peralta-McLean . . . or McLean-Peralta.
Speaking of McLean, this makes him and the whole rotation better. At the moment, the Mets have six starters. This gives McLean an extra day of rest to help him get through his first full MLB season.
Kodai Senga has been better with an extra day of rest, and now, he gets it. David Peterson and Clay Holmes wore down from the increased workload, and now, they also get an extra day. Sean Manaea also gets a needed extra day.
They just didn’t get better by adding Peralta. They got better because the six man rotation makes the entire rotation better. They’re getting the best out of all their starters, which is very bad news for the National League.
Senga and Peterson have been All-Stars. Manaea was a top of the rotation pitcher for a team that went to the NLCS. McLean’s ceiling is as high as we’ve ever seen. They’re now all positioned to be at their best making them arguably the best rotation in baseball.
Keep in mind, Peralta was not the only pitcher the Mets obtained. They also received Myers, a pitcher who is not even arbitration eligible until after the 2027 season.
Myers has been a dominant reliever in his brief Major League career. If you go back to that 2024 Game 3, he absolutely dominated the Mets and appeared to be the game winning pitcher until Alonso did what he did.
Myers may still yet be a starter. He could be a future closer. He’s the Mets 2026 version of Seth Lugo. That’s a dangerous pitcher to have on your staff, and Myers is probably better.
Now, the Mets paid an understandably steep price for Peralta and Myers. In fact, ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel explains the Mets trading Jett Williams and Brandon Sproat moved them from the top farm system to sixth best. Ironically, the Brewers moved from sixth to first.
There will be some who try to nitpick the prospects. We can point to Sproat’s struggles at Triple-A and his four Major League starts. We shouldn’t be doing that.
Sproat has a bright future ahead of him. After all, he made his MLB debut a year after being drafted. He could’ve been a big piece for the Mets in 2026.
Williams is a top prospect. He has a real future at second, short, or CF. He’s got speed and power in his bat. Losing him hurts, and it takes away insurance for the 35 year old Marcus Semien and injury prone players like Bichette and Robert.
The Mets can soon come to regret this trade, especially with Peralta being a year away from free agency. That makes this a real gamble and a worthwhile one at that.
Peralta improves the Mets rotation and improves the entire pitching staff. Myers makes the Mets deeper. If Myers is in the bullpen, this could be the best staff in the entire Major Leagues.
The Mets officially went all-in. They’ve built a team better than the 2025 Mets, and it could be the best this century. Time will tell. Whatever happens, it’ll be because the Mets made the very bold move to add Peralta to make the Mets the one team who can dethrone the Dodgers.
Of all the absolute nonsense to emerge from Pete Alonso signing with the Baltimore Orioles, there’s a faction of fans saying the Wilpons never would’ve let this happen. I wish I was making this up, but sadly it’s true.
Alonso was a fan favorite. With fans emotionally attached to him, they’re going to lash out. It’s understandable.
That said the emerging narrative the Wilpons would’ve kept Alonso is utter nonsense. They had more of their fair share of decisions to get rid of fan favorites.
We can even do this position by position.
P – R.A. Dickey
Yes, trading Dickey made a ton of sense, and with Travis d’Arnaud and Noah Syndergaard, the trade helped propel the Mets to a pennant. Still, this was not a universally popular trade as Dickey was coming off consecutive good years winning the Cy Young in 2012. Fans started to envision a Dickey led Mets turnaround. Instead, he was traded.
C – Mike Piazza
Piazza is one of two Hall of Famers to wear a Mets cap. The Wilpons also dangled him in trade rumors, moved him to first without his knowledge, and they opted to part ways after the 2005 season. We can justify it with the way the 2006 season went, but as we also saw in 2006, Piazza gave the San Diego Padres one more good season.
1B – John Olerud
Olerud was a reclamation project that actually worked out. He was part of the famed best ever defensive infield and a beloved Met. Instead of coming up with the money to keep him, they justified low ball offers and tried to diminish his contributions on his way out the door.
2B – Daniel Murphy
Murphy was a fan favorite and All-Star second baseman coming off a historic record setting postseason. Offensively, he propelled the Mets to the pennant. So, naturally, the Mets let him walk to the Washington Nationals.
3B – Edgardo Alfonzo
There are as few beloved homegrown Mets as Alfonzo. He was one of the driving forces of those late 90s teams, and the Mets thanks him by pushing him aside. First, it was trading for Roberto Alomar pushing Alfonzo to third, and then, they wouldn’t come up with $2 million to keep him.
SS – Jose Reyes
Back in 2011, there was actually some debate over whether the Mets should keep Reyes or David Wright. Part of the debate was how much better suited to the original comical dimensions of Citi Field. With Madoff and the Wilpons desperately attempting to hold onto the team, they let the Miami Marlins sign Reyes without presenting him with an offer.
OF – Benny Agbayani
Agbayani always seemed to force his way onto the Major League roster. Between his underdog story and his big hits, he was a fan favorite. One season after he had the walk-off homer in the NLDS, he became arbitration eligible. Rather than try to pay him, the Mets traded him in the Jeromy Burnitz deal after attempts to sell his contract to Japan failed.
OF – Carlos Beltran
Admittedly, this may be a stretch as some will never forge Beltran for striking out against Adam Wainwright. That all said the Wilpons tried to deny him knee surgery, and when Beltran was at the end of his deal, they were eager to get rid of him. Ironically, he’d be traded for Zack Wheeler, a pitcher they derided when he left the Mets in free agency.
OF – Endy Chavez
To this day, Mets fans celebrate Endy’s catch in Game 7 of the 2006 NLCS. He was loved by Mets fans. That didn’t prevent the Mets from trading him after consecutive collapses as a part of the ill-fated J.J. Putz trade.
Manager – Bobby Valentine
Valentine is a top three manager in Mets history. Given how he got the most out of his flawed teams and his being the first Mets manager to go to the postseason in consecutive years, there’s an argument he’s the best. The fans loved him for that, his “mustache”, and his heroics after 9/11. He was hated by Steve Phillips and the Wilpons, and they got rid of him the moment the team didn’t make the postseason.
Analyst – Bobby Ojeda
Ojeda was a popular Met, who was a big reason for the team winning in 1986. He was brilliant in the SNY postgames capturing the zeitgeist of the Mets fans. When his contract was up, they didn’t pay him.
Seaver is the greatest Met of all-time. He had zero relationship with the Mets during the Wilpon ownership, and he died before Steve Cohen built him his statue.
This is who the Wilpons were. They got rid of everyone not named David Wright. Like with Wilmer Flores (an honorable mention to this list), they’d invent an injury to justify kicking a player out the door.
When that didn’t work, they’d smear the player through the press. They wouldn’t keep the legends letting them go finish their careers elsewhere.
Odds are the Wilpons would have never kept Alonso. Likely, he leaves after the 2024 NLCS run (just ask Murphy). That’s if he’s not traded well before that because he got really expensive quick.
Stop with this revisionist history nonsense. The Wilpons were awful owners who tried to actively ruin the experience of being a Mets fan. They burned bridges with many players. They wouldn’t have kept Alonso.
Weird things happen in the MLB postseason. Since the expanded postseason format, things rarely, if ever, goes as planned.
The first expansion was in 1969. The New York Mets shocked the world that year. Even though the Mets had won 100 games, they beat the favored Atlanta Braves in the first ever NLCS.
The Mets went on to shock the world by beating the 109 win Baltimore Orioles in the World Series.
Four years later, behind the Tug McGraw mantra of “Ya Gotta Believe!” the 1973 Mets won the NL East with only 82 wins. That team beat the Cincinnati Reds in five games (back when the NLCS was five games) to advance to the World Series.
To hear Howie Rose tell it, if Yogi Berra pitched George Stone in Game 6 instead of Tom Seaver, that team likely wins the World Series. Still, an 82 team in the World Series highlights how crazy things can happen.
In 2015, aided by a Washington Nationals choke job (insert Jonathan Papelbon–Bryce Harper joke), the 2015 Mets won the division. Daniel Murphy became Babe Ruth, and the Mets trio of Jacob deGrom–Matt Harvey–Noah Syndergaard led the Mets to the pennant.
If not for Terry Collins, the Mets win the 2015 World Series. He was as bad as you can be, and the Mets largely didn’t win because of him.
It’s also worked against the Mets.
The Mets dominated the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 1988 season. However, Orel Hershiser would come up huge, and he’d help the Dodgers with a huge upset. Fueled by Kirk Gibson’s shocking homer in Game 1, the Dodgers beat what could’ve been seen as an all-time great Oakland Athletics team.
In 2000, the Mets had some luck with the St. Louis Cardinals beating the Atlanta Braves. That cleared the way for the Mets to beat the Cardinals and win the pennant.
In the World Series, they faced off against an 87 win New York Yankees team, who ended that season on the verge of an epic collapse to miss the postseason. If Todd Zeile’s ball bounces over the wall, or Armando Benitez throws a strike who knows?
The less said about that World Series, the better.
In 2006, the Mets were the best team in baseball and seemed destined to win the World Series. El Duque got hurt warming up the NLDS, Billy Wagner faltered in the postseason like he always does, and Carlos Beltran struck out looking.
Meanwhile, we watched on with horror as the 83 win Cardinals beat an imploding Detroit Tigers team to win the World Series.
No matter the win total, if the Mets make the postseason, they will be sputtering in. Who cares?
This is still a team who can win a World Series. Everything they need is here.
Nolan McLean is a real ace, and Edwin Díaz is the best closer in baseball. As we saw with the Dodgers last year, you can win getting 2-3 innings from everyone.
We’ve already seen that Clay Holmes–Sean Manaea piggyback work well. It can certainly work with the rest of the staff.
Pete Alonso and Juan Soto had series winning homers last postseason. Francisco Lindor led the way like he’s doing during the current stretch run. Mark Vientos shook off late season struggles to be the Mets best player last postseason.
This Mets team can win the World Series. They have what it takes. They just need to get there. Even if you’re still skeptical, just look at past postseasons to look at how crazy things get.
When Noah Syndergaard left the New York Mets, he thought things would go far different than it has. The further away he has gotten away from the Mets; the further he has gotten away from being Thor.
He thought he was going where he needed to come back from Tommy John when he spurned the Mets to sign with the Los Angeles Angels. His 106 ERA+ wasn’t what he wanted to be, but he was league average.
It led to a trade deadline deal to the eventual pennant winning Philadelphia Phillies. He wasn’t all that great and initially was in the bullpen in the postseason.
In the offseason, he did the smart thing by signing with the Los Angeles Dodgers. He didn’t perform well, and he spent much of the year dealing with blisters.
The Dodgers were all too happy to dump him on the Cleveland Guardians at the trade deadline. After six starts, the Guardians designated him for assignment.
Look, there’s nothing here to suggest Syndergaard will ever be what we once knew him to be. Going to Baseball Savant, there’s nothing to suggest he’s a good or even capable Major League pitcher now.
That brings us to the Mets.
Carlos Carrasco is making starts every five days (maybe for not much longer). The bullpen also has been a disaster with relievers shuttling back-and-forth from Queens to Syracuse.
You could argue Syndergaard couldn’t be worse than what the Mets have. It’s not an ironclad one (with the exception of Carrasco). Thinking he can resemble the Syndergaard of old is fool’s gold.
The Mets still are in a spot where they’re looking at options for the 2024 pitching staff. They’re also looking for reasons to get fans to the ballpark. Maybe Syndergaard could be an answer to both.
Most likely not.
At this point, the question really is why not? No one is kicking down Syndergaard’s door. The Mets don’t have better waiting. Sure, it’s sappy nostalgia, but that’s at least something.
At this point, just bring back Syndergaard. If nothing else, it’ll be better than watching Carrasco.
This has been about one of the most disappointing New York Mets seasons in a long time. Part of the reason for it was how unexpected the team’s failures have been.
This is the type of season we never expected under Steve Cohen. Unlike with the Wilpons, this really isn’t his fault, and we can expect him to learn from it.
The Wilpons never learned, and some careers were ruined. Two of those careers were Amed Rosario’s and Noah Syndergaard’s. We were reminded of that when the Los Angeles Dodgers traded Syndergaard to the Cleveland Guardians for Rosario.
These were once two young players who were supposed to be part of a young Mets core. The next great Mets run that never happened.
The Mets failings with Rosario have been detailed here previously. His bat wasn’t Major League ready as he never developed enough plate discipline, and it’s held him back his entire career (cautionary tale for Ronny Mauricio).
He was given a mentor in Jose Reyes who was more interested in taking Rosario’s playing time for himself. When his defense wasn’t up to par, they never switched him to another position where he could thrive (like CF).
There were other issues like an antiquated hitting approach with Chili Davis. Having Terry Collins and Mickey Callaway as your manager is by no means conducive to player development.
After all the Mets did to ensure Rosario never reached his immense potential, it’s a minor miracle the Guardians saw enough value in Rosario to make him a significant part of the Francisco Lindor trade.
As for Syndergaard, much of his issues were related to Jeff Wilpon playing doctor. There was the 2017 incident where Syndergaard didn’t get an MRI before exacerbating his last injury.
We can’t know if that incident led to Syndergaard’s future injuries, but it assuredly couldn’t have helped. Of note, Syndergaard’s rehab was rushed to get him back on the mound for some “starts” (read gates) before the end of that season.
Something was wrong with Syndergaard at the end of the 2019 season. Part of it seemed like the Mets forcing Wilson Ramos on him. In reality, it was Syndergaard was hurt.
Syndergaard had a torn UCL, and it was discovered during spring training. Controversially, he’d have Tommy John surgery during the height of the pandemic. Right then and there, his being Thor was over.
The Wilpons were in power during Syndergaard’s Tommy Joh rehab. For some reason, Mets pitchers never handled that rehab well. Syndergaard would be Jeff Wilpon’s last victim.
Syndergaard is now just another pitcher. He’s mentally broken, and not even the Dodgers could resuscitate his career. In fact, the Dodgers traded the injured pitcher away.
Rosario and Syndergaard were supposed to be great Mets who led the team to multiple World Series titles. After the Wilpon led Mets were done with them, they were no more.
Now, they’re bit parts getting traded at the deadline. One, Rosario, becomes a utility player. The other, Syndergaard, was just moved to just get rid of him.
This is a cruel fate for both players. They both should’ve been more. We wanted it for them, they deserved it, and we deserved it. The Wilpons ruined them like everything they touch. It’s cruel.
Top of the ninth. Two outs. 3-2 count. New York Mets trailing the Arizona Diamondbacks 1-0. Andrew Chafin throws a good sinker on the outside part of the plate. Francisco Alvarez takes a huge cut, and . . .
FRANCISCO ÁLVAREZ STRIKES AGAIN!
A GAME-TYING HOMER IN THE NINTH! pic.twitter.com/NC2c0aDlFh
— SNY (@SNYtv) July 6, 2023
If you’re a Mets fan, that clutch opposite field homer is so reminiscent of Mets greats like Mike Piazza and David Wright. We’ve seen Alvarez been compared to Piazza, and Alvarez is actually wearing the number Wright always had wanted to wear.
The Mets seem to rarely produce prospects like this. Yes, there was Tom Seaver and the aforementioned Wright. We know the story of Dwight Gooden and Darryl Strawberry.
We went through Generation K with Jason Isringhausen, Paul Wilson, and Bill Pulsipher breaking down. That uber rotation has whimpered. Jacob deGrom is with the Texas Rangers, and he needs a second Tommy John. Noah Syndergaard is with the Los Angeles Dodgers, and he says he will give away his first born to be Thor again.
Zack Wheeler is with the Philadelphia Phillies, and Steven Matz‘s career is falling apart with the St. Lois Cardinals. Matt Harvey, who was supposed to be the best of them all, retired after the injuries and the off-the-field problems.
The Mets tales with the can’t miss prospect doesn’t typically end well. We need not look any further than Wright, whose path the to the Hall of Fame was derailed by spinal stenosis.
Despite the past, Alvarez feels different. In fact, he is different than just about any prospect. Seriously, you have to go all the way back to Johnny Bench to find a catcher who has been great on both sides of the ball the way Alvarez has been.
Right now, Alvarez is doing it all. Per Baseball Savant, he’s tied for sixth best in baseball in framing. He’s ninth in baseball in blocking balls in the dirt. Overall, he’s a terrific defensive catcher.
Francisco Alvarez with a nice catch! pic.twitter.com/6le6sD75F1
— New York Post Sports (@nypostsports) July 7, 2023
In addition to the defense is the bat, more specifically, the power. At the moment, he leads all major league catchers in homers. As we see with him, when they come, they come in bunches. In fact, he homered in all three games of the sweep of the Diamondbacks.
At the moment, he’s seventh among all major league catchers in fWAR (fourth in the NL). Since May 1, around the time when he took over being the everyday catcher, he ranks fifth overall.
Among rookies, his fWAR ranks 11th overall. In the NL, he ranks sixth. Depending on Corbin Carroll‘s injury, he may or may not be in the running for Rookie of the Year along with Elly De La Cruz.
However, in the end, it is not really about the award. Rather, with Alvarez, we see greatness. We see Gary Carter with more power, or Piazza with the ability to throw out base runners. At the moment, the sky is the limit for him.
Maybe this recent Mets run gets them back in the Wild Card race. It probably doesn’t. No matter what happens there, it is still not a lost season. The reason is because Alvarez is emerging as a real star in this league, and we see the next great Met emerging.
Perhaps, it should not have come as a surprise. After all, Matt Harvey wasn’t Matt Harvey anymore. There was a long suspension looming, and there was the stain of the Tyler Skaggs trial, but you just hoped there would be just one more act in Matt Harvey’s career.
Sadly, there will not be as Harvey announced his retirement on Instagram. With that ends a career which meant a lot to Mets fans.
People forget what it was like to be a Mets fan in 2012. The Wilpons were broke, and the last player they signed before they were officially tied up in the Madoff Scandal was Jason Bay.
Citi Field back then was a massive disappointment. There was no honoring Mets history. The depth of the outfield walls were a joke. It seemed like the Wilpons wanted it to be more Brooklyn Dodger than New York Mets. In fact, it was so bad they eliminated Dwight Gooden‘s improptu signature from inside the stadium.
Then, late in 2012, Harvey pitched in Arizona. He set a Mets record striking out 11 in his Major League debut. He gave us a glimpse of how good he could be. He started to give Mets fans hope.
Then, 2013 happened. It was a season that rarely comes along. From his first start of the season, you could tell this was going to be something special. While it didn’t culminate in a Cy Young, it was one of the more special seasons in Mets history.
There was the “Harvey’s Better!” chants when he pitched against Stephen Strasburg. He almost had the perfect game against the Chicago White Sox. There was the blood coming from his nose. The Cholula hot sauce meter with Harvey topping 100 MPH with his fastball.
Matt Harvey on the "Harvey's Better" chants from April 19, 2013:
"That day will forever stay in my dreams. I know I pitched well and we were on our way to a win, and as I'm sitting in the dugout, all I hear is the chants overtaking Citi Field…I never wanted it to end." pic.twitter.com/Skx6wMj6HU
— SNY (@SNYtv) May 5, 2023
He started the All-Star Game over Clayton Kershaw, who might’ve been at the peak of his abilities. The Mets were hosting the All-Star Game, and Harvey, our ace, was starting. This was almost unfathomable.
Sure, we were going overboard with the Tom Seaver comparisons, but could you blame us? We could tell greatness when we saw it, and Harvey was great. Sadly, he would be more Gooden than Seaver.
Because it’s the Mets, Harvey torn his UCL that magical 2013 season, and he was shut down until 2015. Little did we know then, but that 2015 season would effectively be the end of Harvey’s career.
Harvey started out great, and the Mets were trying to ease the workload because the team was better than they anticipated. Harvey hated the six man rotation, and Scott Boras hated the innings on Harvey’s arm. Harvey was caught in the middle.
The Mets definitively reneged on their promises. Mets created some theater with David Wright sitting down and talking to him all game long (because that’s how players really handle things – talking in the dugout and not in the clubhouse or away from the field). Harvey was a deer in the headlights who did mishandle things a bit.
In the end, Harvey pitched, and he would throw more innings post Tommy John than anyone before him. He won a pivotal Game 3 against the Dodgers in the NLDS. He was GREAT in Game 1 of the NLCS against the Chicago Cubs setting the tone for the would be sweep.
It was the great Harvey game we don’t talk about as much. He really set a tone for a Mets team who was surging. Of course, we know why it was overlooked. It was overlooked because of Game 5 of the World Series.
While the Mets were down 3-1, you could still believe they had a chance. After all, momentum in baseball was your next day’s starting pitcher. For the Mets that was Harvey, Jacob deGrom, and Noah Syndergaard. First, there was Harvey, and he was everything the Mets needed him to be that night.
He shut out the Kansas City Royals over eight innings striking out nine. That’s where your head and your heart come into conflict. Your head said go to Jeurys Familia. Terry Collins followed his heart and sent Harvey back out there. After all, he was pitching like an ace, and he sent his ace to finish what he started.
It’s September 27th. Matt Harvey is through eight scoreless and begs Brandon Hyde to finish the game. Camden Yards erupts as he takes the mound. This time he gets it done. Orioles win 1-0 thanks to a Ryan Mountcastle homer. Baltimore takes 4th place pic.twitter.com/WH8EjoW9cP https://t.co/fzHdA4Ym7O
— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) February 13, 2021
Citi Field was raucous after he took the mound. It’s about as loud as that ballpark ever got. We know it didn’t end well for him, and part of that was Collins not knowing when to pull him. Sadly, in many ways, that game was a microcosm of Harvey’s career.
Greatness was there for the taking for Harvey, but he could never complete it. There were rumblings back then, especially when Harvey didn’t show up for workouts. As we discovered, Harvey had a drug problem.
We finally knew that for sure with the Skaggs trial. It’s why the Mets had to begrudgingly designate him for assignment and trade him. It’s why he was bad with the Los Angeles Angels. It’s part of the reason his career is over.
That didn’t cause the TOS. In the end, the TOS was why he could never get it back. However, in the end, it was the looming suspension and the after effects of the trial that precipitated this retirement.
Fortunately, Harvey did have one last hurrah pitching for Italy int he World Baseball Classic. He was the ace for the surprise team of the tournament. He was the most pleasant surprise for sure. You had hoped it would lead to one last chance for him.
We now know it won’t come. He won’t have the redemption story Gooden and Darryl Strawberry had, at least not in the majors. However, that doesn’t change how great he was or his impact on the Mets.
Harvey is forever a part of Mets lore. He was an important figure who gave us hope when there was no reason to have any. He helped bring the Mets back to relevance. Mets fans know that and loved him for that, and that’s why he got a standing ovation the last time he pitched at Citi Field.
Hopefully, Harvey is at peace with his decision. Hopefully, there is more for him to do in baseball. Hopefully, he understands how much Mets fans will forever love him and how appreciative we are for what he did.
It’s a sad moment for Mets fans. The hope is that it’s not a sad moment for Harvey. The hope is that it’s a new beginning for him.
Noah Syndergaard left the New York Mets for good reasons. Those reasons included whether he believed he could handle pitching in New York with diminished velocity.
The answer was he wasn’t anywhere close to being Syndergaard. Better yet, he wasn’t Thor. Nowhere close.
Syndergaard was once known for the ability to ramp it up to 100 MPH. Instead, post Tommy John, he was throwing 94 MPH with his slider velocity similarly diminished.
What’s interesting is he did have a slight dip in velocity from April through the 2022 season. That may be an indication he’s still working his way back physically. Perhaps, there’s a couple more MPH in his right arm.
With Syndergaard, that’s the intrigue. We’ve seen it from him previously. Whoever signs him is partially betting on the ability to get Syndergaard closer to the pitcher he was.
On that front, the Mets have Jeremy Hefner. Hefner has built his reputation as an excellent pitching coach. We’ve already seen how his ability to hone mechanics helped Edwin Díaz have a phenomenal season.
Maybe it’s a mechanical issue with Syndergaard. It’s possible he just needs to rebuild arm strength. Likely, it’s a combination of the two. Again, that’s why the Mets have Hefner.
It’s also possible this is who Syndergaard is now. If that is the case, Syndergaard is still intriguing.
Looking at the 2022 numbers, he struggles getting going in the first inning. He starts to lose his control the third time through the lineup. After 100 pitches, opposing batters start hitting him very hard.
This turned Syndergaard into a five and fly guy. The Philadelphia Phillies gave him a very short leash in the postseason. He was just another fifth starter to them.
In some ways, this makes him similar to what the Mets had with Carlos Carrasco. When he returned from injury in 2021, he struggled mightily, especially in that first inning.
In 2022, it was a different story. He was still at his worst in the first, but he was better able to navigate it. Even having the same limitations as Syndergaard, he still won 15 games with a respectable 3.53 FIP.
That’s what we’ve seen with Hefner as pitching coach. If there’s something there, he’s going to help that pitcher find it. With Syndergaard, there is something there.
Per Baseball Savant, Syndergaard still limited hard contact. He also had good control with a low walk rate. Part of the reason for that is Syndergaard’s extension.
We saw Syndergaard slower to the plate this year and taking more time between pitches. Perhaps, that was a confidence issue. Maybe, he was just trying to figure it out. Whatever the case, the pitch clock promises to get him working quicker pushing him towards being more of himself.
Another thing of note is Syndergaard generated a number of ground balls with his sinker/slider combination. He’d benefit from having Francisco Lindor up the middle. A better defense can make a better pitcher.
All told, there’s enough there to talk you into Syndergaard. That’s even before following Zack Wheeler’s rocky return from Tommy John where he threw 94.8 MPH in 2017 and 96.8 two years later.
The 100 MPH may be forever gone, but in all likelihood, there’s another tick or two in that fastball (and slider). Thor is still deep down somewhere in there.
There’s definite risk with Syndergaard, but it’s probably not going to be cost prohibitive to take that risk. That’s a factor for the Mets who are looking to bring back Jacob deGrom and Brandon Nimmo while rebuilding an entire pitching staff.
For the Mets, maybe Syndergaard is worth the gamble. Maybe Hefner is that good. Maybe Syndergaard as a fifth starter can help manufacture pitching depth by forcing Tylor Megill and David Peterson to Syracuse to start the year.
In all likelihood, this probably won’t happen, and certainly, the Mets should pursue other angles first. Syndergaard may not want to return, and the Mets may have no interest in bringing him back. That said, things get weird in the offseason, and at some point, it could make sense for the two to reunite.
In the end, there may be something there with Syndergaard, and the Mets finally have the type of organization which can unlock it. We will see if that will happen.