HAMMER TIME
Thor pitches two sharp innings against Astros in his spring debut
PORT ST. LUCIE — Noah Syndergaard paid less attention to the mechanical details in his first start of spring training and focused instead on just trusting his delivery.
The undemanding approach led to positive results as the right-hander pitched two scoreless innings in the Mets’ 4-2 loss to the Astros on Wednesday at Clover Park.
Syndergaard recorded two strikeouts, walked no one and gave up one hit over 18 pitches and seven batters faced. Though a couple of Houston hitters made contact on sharp ground balls, Syndergaard got some help from Jeff McNeil, who was playing at the hot corner and aided the right-hander in staying efficient.
“I felt great,” Syndergaard said. “Felt like I was back to a competing mentality as opposed to thinking what parts of my body are doing what on the mound. Overall I think it was definitely a step in the right direction and I’m just going to build off that.”
The 27-year-old was confident in his slider usage throughout the abbreviated start. He used a 92-mph slider to strikeout Aledmys Diaz in the first inning before he retired the next four batters.
Syndergaard said, ideally, he wants his slider to reach the 92-93 mph range this season. Wednesday’s outing was an encouraging step toward that goal. The righty, in his spring debut, was still taking it easy with his fastball — dialing it up to 97 mph instead of the usual heater that’s up a couple of ticks higher.
“I did like the slider. I thought it was back to — close to the velocity I wanted,” Syndergaard said. “There still were some that I didn’t throw with complete conviction and intent.”
Wilson Ramos is making a conscious effort this spring to adjust his catching stance in order to provide a lower target for pitchers like Syndergaard. The Venezuelan catcher began resting his knee on the ground instead of squatting throughout an outing.
Syndergaard, who voiced concern over pitching to Ramos last year, said he was pleased with the way he received his pitches on Wednesday.
“Him and I were on the same page,” Syndergaard said. “Just the rhythm and the tempo that we had was really something to build off. It was encouraging.”