NOAH WILL SAIL IN GAME 2
SET TO SQUARE OFF WITH ARRIETA
In the end, Noah Syndergaard on short rest for Game 2 of the NLCS was the option that made the most sense to the Mets.
The rookie made a one-inning relief appearance in Game 5 of the NLDS on Thursday, but threw the equivalent of 80 pitches when warmup tosses were factored, leaving manager Terry Collins with pause as he aligned his NLCS rotation.
The issue was settled Saturday.
“He just came in and said he felt great,” Collins said before the Mets faced the Cubs in Game 1 of the NLCS at Citi Field. “There is absolutely no stiffness and he’s got no soreness anywhere and he wants to pitch, so we’re going to run him out there.”
Syndergaard was among the Mets’ heroes Thursday, with a shutout seventh inning against the Dodgers before Jeurys Familia got the final six outs for the save.
“I tried not to pay too much attention to the role I was playing there,” Syndergaard said. “I just went out there and tried to pretend I was starting the game all over again.”
Syndergaard’s major league debut came against the Cubs at Wrigley Field on May 12. In that 6-1 loss to the Cubs, he allowed three earned runs over 5 1/3 innings with six strikeouts and four walks.
“I feel like I have changed night and day,” Syndergaard said when asked about his development since that start.
In his lone start this postseason, Syndergaard allowed three earned runs over 6 1/3 innings with nine strikeouts in the Mets’ 5-2 loss in Game 2 of the NLDS.
Collins, unsure about Syndergaard’s recovery time, initially considered Steven Matz for Sunday’s start against the Cubs, but that would have meant pushing Syndergaard to Game 4 — and pitching only once in a potential seven-game series — because Jacob deGrom is locked into pitching the previous game.
“No disrespect to Steven but he just hasn’t pitched a lot,” Collins said, referring to his preference to pitch Syndergaard twice over Matz.
To keep Matz sharp, Collins planned to have the lefty available in the bullpen Saturday or Sunday. But the manager was unsure how he would use Matz, who pitched f ive innings in Game 4 of the NLDS.
Syndergaard was dynamite in his relief appearance against the Dodgers, but there was no way Collins was going to let him pitch a second inning.
“We sat down before the game and said, ‘Two runs or less, Familia is pitching the eighth and ninth.’ It was a done deal,” Collins said. “I know how well Noah threw and it’s really easy to sit down after that game and say, ‘Wow, he should have pitched him another inning.’ Well, if he would have walked the leadoff hitter, guess who is in the game, so why mess with it? Let’s just put him in the game, let’s just get it over with and we went to the guy and you can get secondguessed all you want, but I still feel I’ve got the best closer in baseball right now, he’s getting in that game in the eighth.”