A change is gonna come
Thor can’t wait to deploy new pitch on Opening Day
PORT ST. LUCIE — Thor is pumped. After much hard work, he possesses an incredible new weapon and has cleaned the mechanical kinks in his delivery.
Look out, National League and Braves, come Opening Day.
“I’m back where I need to be,” Noah Syndergaard proclaimed Saturday after throwing five shutdown innings, allowing one unearned run, two singles and two walks while striking out eight against Cardinals minor leaguers at First Data Field. He threw 70 pitches.
“I’ll be ready to answer the call Opening Day,” he said. “I feel like I’m right on track where I need to be.”
He also worked with catcher Travis d’Arnaud for the third time with d’Arnaud staying behind as well to gain more Syndergaard experience.
The new weapon is a devastating changeup, and imagine that along with the 100 mph heater and 93 mph slider. Game over. “Today, it was going straight down about a foot,” d’Arnaud said. “So when you know 100 is coming and you’ve got to gear up for it and that thing comes out at 91 and it’s dropping a foot, it’s definitely effective, and it’s a whole [other] weapon he has. He threw about 10 to 15. He can do anything. As spring training is coming to an end, it’s nice to see his progression where it’s at now.”
It has been lots of work for Syndergaard.
“I made some mechanical adjustments in between my side work, and things are just really starting to click for me right now, and I’m really excited about them,’’ said Syndergaard, who is two starts away from starting the season.
His landing foot is smoother, and that makes the difference.
“I say in my head: Push the rubber away, push the rubber back. That’s a mechanism for me, and that in turn will translate into a better landing,” Syndergaard explained.
He also has a little step back in his delivery.
“I make sure I have a solid base on my right leg,” Syndergaard said of the move where he always starts from the stretch now.
Pitching coach Dan Warthen decided to have Syndergaard pitch at home while the team went on the road to face the Cardinals in Jupiter, with Robert Gsellman starting.
Syndergaard said with a smile: “Dan thought it would be a good idea, and I thought about my son, Robert Gsellman, [throwing] on the road for once, get his own start.”
Syndergaard and Gsellman are going to be roommates in New York this season. Should be interesting.
D’Arnaud said with the stuff Syndergaard unleashed Saturday, he would have had success against any major league team as well. Syndergaard said he and d’Arnaud are establishing a bond.
“Everything was on point today,” Syndergaard said. “My curve ball was the best it’s been in a long time and I credit that to the mechanical adjustment I made. Sometimes certain habits are tough to break.
“I’m just fine-tuning everything. I’m getting more used to holding runners on, varying my looks to home plate, throwing certain pitches you may not throw just to get that pitch ability back. It’s all about becoming a well-rounded pitcher from here on out.”