Mets' Noah Syndergaard was already great and he's found a way to be even better
Noah Syndergaard is throwing more sinkers, and now he's better than ever
By
Mike Axisa
•
3 min read
NEW YORK -- Less than two full seasons into his big-league career, Mets right-hander Noah Syndergaard (who left his Opening Day start on Monday with a blister on his finger) is already one of the best pitchers in baseball. The 24-year-old finished eighth in the NL Cy Young voting in 2016 thanks to a 2.60 ERA (158 ERA+) and 218 strikeouts in 183 2/3 innings. Sabermetric stats love Syndergaard -- he led all pitchers with a 2.29 FIP last year and tied Clayton Kershaw for the MLB lead with 6.5 WAR. (Albeit in 34 2/3 more innings. Kershaw is still on another level.)
The Mets never did score against Giants ace Madison Bumgarner in the 2016 NL Wild Card Game, wasting Syndergaard’s gem. He allowed two hits and three walks in seven scoreless innings while striking out 10. During that game, Syndergaard made a subtle change to his approach and attacked San Francisco’s hitters with sinking two-seam fastballs, not straight four-seamers. Here is his start-by-start fastball pitch selection last season, via Brooks Baseball:
After using his four-seam fastball and sinker at nearly equal rates for the most of the season, Syndergaard all but abandoned his four-seamer in the NL Wild Card Game. He went heavy on sinkers against the Giants and hey, it worked beatifully. Syndergaard was marvelous. It’s not his fault the offense couldn’t solve Bumgarner.
The sinker heavy approach was not a one-start blip. It was the start of the trend. Syndergaard indicated all throughout spring training he wants to continue using the sinker as a way to get quick ground ball outs and be more pitch efficient. He’s looking for ways to get better, and when you’re already one of the best pitchers in baseball, one of the few ways to improve is by using even fewer pitches to get outs.
“(Pitching coach Dan Warthen) and him, they talk a lot about it,” said catcher Rene Rivera following the team’s Opening Day win over the Atlanta Braves (NYM 6, ATL 0). “His two-seamer is one of the top pitches in baseball. With that velocity, it’s hard to pick it up and put a good swing. They were talking about it through spring training ... Get the four-seam to just be a swing-and-miss pitch, and for strikes get the two-seam down in the zone and get a lot of ground balls.”
As good as he was last season, Syndergaard averaged 3.94 pitches per plate appearance. He’d like to shave that down below the 3.88 league average and pitch deeper into games. On Monday, Syndergaard dominated Atlanta with his sinker before a blister on top of his right middle finger forced him to leave the game after 86 pitches and six shutout innings. Here is his pitch count breakdown, per PitchFX:
- Sinkers: 42
- Sliders: 28
- Changeups: 12
- Curveballs: 3
- Four-seamers: 1 (!)
One four-seamer! Braves hitters put 11 of those 42 sinkers in play -- they swung and missed at one and took 12 others for strikes -- and seven of the 11 were hit into the ground. Syndergaard had a solidly above-average 51.2 percent ground ball rate last year because his stuff is so good. By throwing more sinkers, he might be able to get his ground ball rate north of 55 percent, a level only four qualified starters reached last season.
“When you spend all those years in player development like I have, this guy epitomizes what you try to get across,” said manager Terry Collins prior to the Opening Day game. “And that is -- ability gets you to the major leagues -- is the adjustments you make. It’s the approaches that you have to change that allow you stay here.”
For all intents and purposes, Syndergaard has completely replaced his four-seamer fastball with a sinker in his last two starts that counted, meaning the 2016 NL Wild Card Game and 2017 Opening Day. Syndergaard’s stuff is so good he can pitch in strike zone without fear anyway. He’s not someone who needs to nibble on the corners or pitch at the knees. Now he’s dominating and being more efficient, which is bad news for NL hitters.
“This kid has matured so much as a pitcher,” added Collins. “His stuff was always great, but he has learned how to command it. He’s learned how to control his demeanor on the mound and go about things. He asks the right questions. He approaches it right. He’s a gamer to the max. The advancement he’s made in such a short time is remarkable.”
