New York Mets Noah Syndergaard: An Ace in Waiting
By Bill Pivetz
Mets pitcher Noah Syndergaard had a good rookie season. After a full Spring Training, he should be ready to dominate his sophomore season in 2016.
Look at that hair.
The New York Mets have arguably the best rotation in the league. Any other team would be okay with two dominant pitchers in Jacob deGrom and Matt Harvey. But not the Mets. They had to call up Noah Syndergaard to add another dangerous arm in the rotation. He had a good rookie season and could have been an ace for a few other teams. With almost one year of experience under his belt, Syndergaard could be a top-10 pitcher by season’s end.
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Noah Syndergaard made his first MLB start on May 12. It wasn’t what Mets management and fantasy owners were hoping for. He gave up three runs on six hits and four walks while striking out six in 5.1 innings. The first month was a bit of a struggle while Syndergaard adjusted to big-league hitters.
In his 31 starts with Triple-A Las Vegas 51s, he went 12-7 with a 4.09 ERA, 1.383 WHIP, 9.9 K/9 and 2.8 BB/9. Syndergaard was able bring the strikeouts to the majors and the ratio stats settled themselves. He made 24 MLB starts and finished with a 9-7 record, 3.24 ERA, 1.047 WHIP and 166 strikeouts. He had a 10.0 K/9 and just a 1.9 BB/9.
Syndergaard did allow opposing batters to have a .279 BABIP and had a 75 left-on-base percentage. He also allowed a ridiculous 19 home runs, 14.3 HR/FB percentage and 33.6 fly ball rate. He did allow 10 of the 19 homers at home, but was worse overall on the road. Batters had a .258/.311/.442 facing Syndergaard on the road.
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Noah Syndergaard should see his K/9 stay around the 10.0 mark. He is mostly a fastball pitcher, throwing it 61.7 percent of the time. As a result, he strikes out a lot of batters. He is listed as the No. 2 pitcher on the Mets depth chart. I don’t care about wins and losses. The ERA and WHIP will be at great levels, not at superstar levels yet, but he will reach 200 strikeouts.
Projections: 13-8, 3.05 ERA, 1.07 WHIP, 201 strikeouts
Draft: Round 8