New York Mets right-hander Noah Syndergaard made his season debut on Tuesday night as part of a doubleheader against the Miami Marlins. The start was his first appearance in a big-league game in almost two years. Syndergaard most recently pitched on Sept. 29, 2019, in a win against the Atlanta Braves.
In his return to the mound, Syndergaard worked one perfect inning and struck out two of the three batters he faced. The outing was brief by design in order to ease Syndergaard back in after such a lengthy absence. Impressively, nine of Syndergaard’s 10 pitches went for strikes. His fastball and sinker sat in the mid-90s. That’s not quite vintage Thor velocity, even if it’s still solidly above average.
Some highlights:
Syndergaard, who celebrated his 29th birthday in August, is scheduled to reach free agency this offseason. Tuesday’s appearance, then, served as an audition of sorts, as well as the official completion of his rehab from last spring’s Tommy John surgery.
Prior to the operation, Syndergaard had been one of the most dynamic starters in baseball. In 119 career outings, he had accumulated a 3.31 ERA (119 ERA+) and a 4.67 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Syndergaard finished fourth in Rookie of the Year Award voting in 2015 and, in his sophomore season, made the All-Star Game while receiving down-ballot consideration for both the Most Valuable Player and Cy Young Awards.
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While Syndergaard’s fastball used to sit in the upper-90s, he was in the 93-to-95-mph range during a recent rehab start, per SNY’s Jacob Resnick. It’s to be seen how effective Syndergaard can be if his top-end velocity doesn’t return. He enjoyed an extra tick or two relative to that recent baseline on Tuesday night.
The Mets entered Tuesday’s doubleheader with a record of 73-82 on the season. They’ve already made the wrong kind of history this year, as no team with as many days in first place as them (103) had ever previously finished with a losing record. The Mets were in first place as late as mid-August. It’s been all downhill since then, however, leaving them well outside the playoff picture.
