MARLINS GET THE FINGER!
Noah struts his stuff like blister is all done
This was precisely the type of blistering performance Terry Collins and the Mets needed out of Noah Syndergaard. Sunday night’s welcomed 5-2 victory over the Marlins wasn’t all zeroes for Thor, as he’d hammered his way through six innings on Opening Day before his right middle finger blistered up. What it was, however, was a fear-allaying and largely dominating showing for anyone concerned that last Monday’s middlefinger issue might prevent Syndergaard from continuing to flash that particular digit at opposing hitters.
“I understood the pressure that came with this game,” Syndergaard said while sporting the Mets’ celebratory post-game crown. “The blister was fine … and I feel like I’m right where I want to be with all of my pitches right now.”
The floppy-haired righty struck out nine – several with an increasingly wicked slider — and was charged with just one earned run over seven strong, as the Mets’ ace again showed everyone just how determined he is to build on and improve above his breakout 2016 season. “It showed all spring, it showed the first start, that he’s committed to be even better than he was last year,” personal catcher Rene Rivera said. “He continues with that mentality, he’s going to be better and better.” What Mets fan doesn’t love hearing that? But honestly, how much better can he actually become? Syndergaard hit 101 mph on the gun as early as the first inning, fanned five of the first six Marlins he faced, and he didn’t walk a batter for his second consecutive outing (103 pitches), before turning over a 5-2 lead to Fernando Salas in the eighth. Rivera even cut down two straight runners attempting to steal to help Syndergaard out of the third inning after the Marlins had scored twice, aided by a Yoenis Cespedes error/mix-up with center fielder Michael Conforto. “As a baseball player you always have room to learn and to be better. Noah looks like he’s on pace to take it to the next level, to be on top with the best pitchers in baseball,” Rivera said. “That takes hard work and it takes concentration, and he has all of that. “To be a young guy, and to have that mentality, that’s how great pitchers in baseball develop. You talk to Hall of Famers back in the day, how’d they do it? They had the talent, but they worked hard to be the best. That’s what he’s doing.” Of all the blister advice Syndergaard received between starts, one dose actually came from nothing less than baseball royalty. And even though Syndergaard didn’t use Nolan Ryan’s suggested remedy to ready himself to return to the mound with an extra day of rest after being forced to depart early on Opening Day, the 2016 All-Star certainly appreciated his fellow Texan — and baseball’s all-time strikeout king – showing an interest in his health and his burgeoning career. Ryan, the long-ago Mets flamethrower – albeit with most of his record 5,714 K’s coming elsewhere – was quoted in Newsday about using pickle brine during his career to harden his fingers when he first developed blisters. He also complimented Syndergaard’s early career, which the emerging ace beamingly termed “awesome.”
Either way, Syndergaard also joked that since the Mets’ medical staff didn’t “have to amputate” his middle finger – which he also used in his comical ongoing Twitter war with Mr. Met between starts – he’d “be ready to go” in the series finale. He was. “Noah, he’s really good, he’s gonna be really good, he’s gonna stay really good,” Collins said afterward. “He’s a special guy. He knows when he’s got to rise up.”
For the first week, this clearly was that kind of night, especially following a sluggish 2-3 start with the season’s first road trip opening Monday in Philadelphia.
Despite encouragingly strong initial outings, as well, from Jacob deGrom and Matt Harvey, it certainly hadn’t helped Collins or the starting staff that the bullpen largely hadn’t done its job in the absence of suspended closer Jeurys Familia through Saturday, or that the best hitter in the organization for the first week of the season had been none other than Tim Tebow.
(Kidding, of course, although his two homers already at Single-A Columbia were more than anyone on the Mets’ big-league roster until Jay Bruce clubbed his second on Sunday night.)
Hence, Conforto earned his first start of the year, homering and driving in two as Collins tries to navigate finding him at-bats while also getting Bruce and Curtis Granderson going.
“(Conforto) wants to stay here and wants to be in this lineup,” Collins said. “I just had an idea tonight he was going to do J something.” ust as the Mets were hoping that Syndergaard would give conventional wisdom and the Marlins the big ol’ finger on Sunday night. And that’s precisely what he did.