The New York Mets have had some great young starters these last few years. Matt Harvey, Zack Wheeler, and 2014 Rookie of the Year Jacob deGrom have all provided solid pitching for an organization that has had a distinct lack of success in the last few years. Unfortunately for the Mets, their great pitchers have also been plagued by injury.
Not long after finally getting Matt Harvey back after a long recovery period thanks to Tommy John surgery, Zack Wheeler was shut down so that he could have the same procedure and has been ruled out for the season.
Most recently, pitcher Dillon Gee was sent to the disabled list, which meant Noah Syndergaard would finally get his chance to debut for the Mets. His first start came on Tuesday against the Chicago Cubs.
Syndergaard came into his start on Tuesday boasting excellent numbers for the Triple-A Las Vegas 51’s . In his three starts prior to his promotion, he only allowed two runs, 11 hits, and struck out 26 batters. Not only was he effective, but he was also efficient, averaging only 12. 5 pitches per inning.
Syndergaard ended up posting decent numbers in his debut, but would fall a little short.
Even though he pitched five shutout innings to begin the game, the Cubs chased him from the game in the 6th after he surrendered three runs, one on a Starlin Castro double which was followed by Chris Coghlan taking Snydergaard deep for a two run homer.
Despite the eventful conclusion to his debut outing, Syndergaard only surrendered six hits and struck out six in five-and-a-third innings.
The Mets ultimately fell to the Cubs 6-1.
Syndergaard received praise from the managers of both the teams after the game.
“He’s good. As advertised,” commented Cubs’ skipper, Joe Maddon. “Great pitcher’s body. Great stuff. The thing I liked about him is he’s a pitcher, too. He’s just not out there throwing. I was impressed.”
Mets’ manager Terry Collins offered similar praise: “He came up here bound and determined to show everybody he belongs here. And I think he did that.”
Whether or not he stays up with the Mets for very long is yet to be determined. Even if he gets sent back down, if the Mets’ starters continue to prove injury-prone, he’ll likely be back with the Mets before too long.
Random Notes about debuting starters at Wrigley Field, via Mark Simon of ESPN. (http://espn.go.com/blog/new-york/mets/post/_/id/102691)
- Noah Syndergaard was the 42nd pitcher ever to make his debut at Wrigley Field.
- Of those 41 pitchers before Synnegaard, only four got the win.
Photo via Google Images/Elsa/Getty Images
