WHO WON:
The dog-friendly Mets
WHAT HAPPENED, SYNDERGAARD FLEXES ANGLING SKILLS, CATCHES MARLINS CHASING THE BAIT 16 TIMES:
Yes, that is just one drawn out fishing pun to say Noah Syndergaard did well on Sunday night against the Miami Marlins. Sure, I could’ve said “Syndergaard uses sinkers and hooks to fillet the Marlins,” or “Syndergaard went fishing, catches seven Marlins swinging, two looking.” I spared you all from those God-awful puns, but don’t let that distract from the fact that Thor was electric in this one. His stuff looked as sharp as ever, especially out of the gate. Syndergaard struck out five of the first six batters that he faced.
Then came the third inning, which began with a line-drive double into the right field corner by Derek Dietrich on a 2-2 changeup left over the middle of the plate. Two pitches later, Miguel Rojas lined a ball to left center and, though Michael Conforto and Yoenis Cespedes were converging on it, the ball looked like it would find a glove. Cespedes, who took a route much shallower than Conforto, saw the ball kick off his glove and roll in the direction he was running. The play was scored an error, and the Marlins worked with runners on second and third.
The tense moment was quelled, if only for a moment, because Edinson Volquez occupied the batter’s box. Syndergaard set him down on four pitches, which brought up Dee Gordon to the plate. Gordon lined a sinker up in the zone just past Jose Reyes at third, bringing Dietrich and Rojas home. With the score now standing at 3-2, Syndergaard’s personal catcher Rene Rivera decided to take over. Rivera threw out Gordon as he attempted to steal third, and J.T. Realmuto as he attempted to steal second following an infield single.
The third inning was really the only trouble Syndergaard had to work out of, though Dietrich and Rojas did reach base in their next plate appearance in the fifth inning. Dietrich and Rojas—Miami’s 7th and 8th batters, respectively—accounted for three of the Marlins five hits. Other than the bottom of the order for the Marlins giving Syndergaard fits all night, it was another night in which the otherworldly pitcher dominated. After his nine strikeouts, Thor now owns an impressive K:BB ratio of 16:0. Math says that equates to infinity, but I say it is an accurate representation of how many times I would like to see Noah Syndergaard throw baseballs.
The development of his sinker has been ridiculous this season. According to Brooks Baseball, Syndergaard was averaging 10.04 inches of arm-side run on his sinker, which looks even more impressive when you combine it with the 11.47 inches of arm side run he was averaging on his changeup. Syndergaard is out here throwing sinkers around triple digits with close to a foot of arm-side run, low-90s changeups even closer to a foot of arm-side run, not to mention that devastating low- to mid-90s hard slider.
Syndergaard is kicking off his 2017 campaign with a fantastic feel for his arsenal. If he can maintain it, find a way to continually work deeper into games, and stay healthy, we will see him strikeout 300 batters.
WHAT HAPPENED, CONFORTO CASHES IN
I wasted a lot of words talking about Syndergaard, but the Mets did well to jump on the Marlins early on at the plate. Coming into this game the Mets had scored 3 runs all series long, and they matched that total in the first inning. With Cespedes and Asdrubal Cabrera on 1st and 3rd, respectively, Jay Bruce grounded a ball to Justin Bour, who was playing well in on the infield grass at first. Bour tried to gun down Cabrera at the plate; however, the attempt would be fruitless, as the ball would scamper away and Cabrera would score (Cespedes advanced to third, Bruce would hold at first). Neil Walker singled into center field to bring La Potencia to the plate. A Lucas Duda single to right field later, the bases were loaded for Conforto in a game the Mets now led 2-0. Conforto, getting his first start of the season, took advantage of four consecutive balls to bring home another run, which pushed the Mets lead to three.
That would be all the scoring for the first inning, but after everything was said and done, the Mets brought nine batters to the plate on four hits and one walk. On offense, the Mets really took advantage of an Edinson Volquez who looked rather wild early on. Things settled down until the fifth inning, when Bruce notched his second longball of the season—a solo-shot to center. Not to be outdone by his veteran counterpart, just one inning later Conforto launched his first homerun of the 2017 season—also a solo shot.
That was pretty much it at the plate, as once Conforto’s shot had landed the Mets had amassed a 5-2 lead—one that was more than enough for Syndergaard and the backend of the Mets pen.
WHAT HAPPENED, NEWS OF THE DAY
Yesterday was Bark at the Park Night at Citi Field, and because of it some puppies were brought from the North Shore Animal League to Meet the Mets. Some of the videos/photos posted on Twitter might be the best news to come from Sunday.
Here is Jerry Blevins holding a puppy:
This puppy really likes Jerry Blevins pic.twitter.com/zJTJWwj2VX
— Kenny Ducey (@KennyDucey) April 9, 2017
And here is T.J. Rivera:
It's Bark in the Park night at Citi Field. Here's T.J. Rivera meeting a rescue puppy from North Shore Animal League. pic.twitter.com/5NscPulLcI
— Anthony DiComo (@AnthonyDiComo) April 9, 2017
And here are more puppies—err, I mean Mets:
More Mets with puppies. #MetsWithPuppies pic.twitter.com/0nr6TgGYhp
— Anthony DiComo (@AnthonyDiComo) April 9, 2017
In terms of actual news, Steven Matz revealed a week ago that he was suffering from a strained flexor tendon, however the Mets officials are privately questioning the diagnosis that appears to have come from an examination done by a doctor outside the Mets’ organization. According to Bob Klapisch of NorthJersey.com, one person with knowledge of Matz’s care stated, “Our [doctors] found nothing wrong.” The whole read of Klapisch’s article is quite interesting, he goes on to describe how “no one is suggesting Matz isn’t hurt or that he’s faking an injury,” amongst other things. The Mets hope Matz will return next month, so we’ll just have to wait and see what happens in the next couple weeks.
In somewhat news, Tim Tebow blasted his second minor league homer yesterday.
WHAT HAPPENED, YESTERDAY:
Syndergaard went out and did what we’ve come to expect him to do, and the bats scratched across eight hits—two of the home run variety. Fernando Salas and Addison Reed did well, and all together it was an impressive performance for a Mets team that was in danger of being swept at home against the Miami Marlins.
WHAT HAPPENS, TODAY:
The Mets will be in Philadelphia for their first road game of the year, and one that kicks off seven consecutive games away from Citi Field. Jacob deGrom squares off against Jerad Eickhoff, as both the Mets and Phillies are 3-3 on this young season. That, of course, means the winner of the series will take with them an above-.500 record.
Photo credit: Brad Penner – USA Today Sports