Mets tandem can’t stop stolen bases

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. (AP) — The Houston Astros demonstrated Friday what the rest of the league knows and the Mets realize themselves, but haven't been able to fix.

Teams can run successfully on the battery of opening-day pitcher Noah Syndergaard and catcher Travis d'Arnaud - almost seemingly at will.

The Astros were a perfect 4 for 4 in stolen bases at First Data Field in the right-hander's fourth start of the spring: three by Derek Fisher, the other by fellow outfielder Jake Marisnick.

Syndergaard said he felt his delivery times to home plate were good, in the 1.35-second range, while Collins praised him for a couple of sub 1.3s.

"I felt good out there. I felt like my times were where they needed to be," said Syndergaard after his 73-pitch effort. "Sometimes I'm mixing in a slide step as well.

"I feel really confident in controlling the runners, to control the runners and still deliver a quality pitch to home plate."

The numbers say otherwise. Last season, Syndergaard won most of the head-to-head battles at the plate as the tall righthander held hitters to a .243 batting average. However, the advantage swung to the other side somewhat when baserunners started taking off during Syndergaard's delivery.

Base stealers were successful in 48 of 57 attempted thefts against Syndergaard in 2016. In his rookie season the year before, he watched 16 runners attempt to swipe the next base and only get nabbed once.

That's 63 of 73, an 86 percent success rate.

Collins said d'Arnaud's arm strength and velocity are where they need to be. However, his delivery needs to quicken to help slow down the running game.

"I like his arm stroke better than last year. I think he's made huge improvements in it. We've just got to get him to speed it up," Collins said of d'Arnaud, who hasn't thrown out a baserunner this spring.

D'Arnaud said he realizes a catcher like Yadier Molina or Buster Posey who can throw out baserunners is a "game changer" and that his throwing is better now than last year.

"My transfers are getting more consistent and I'm more consistent with my throwing accuracy. When I get a good grip and good transfer, my feet are right underneath me," said d'Arnaud, who isn't discouraged by poor results so far.

Collins said backup catcher Rene Rivera could be in the lineup on April 3 against Atlanta because of his history with Syndergaard.