Who didn’t see this coming?
Alleged Mets ace Noah Syndergaard pitched well when he faced the Los Angeles Dodgers first time around by getting four strikeouts on Friday night at Citi Field. But the second time around, he struggled against them, and gave up a three-run home run to Dodgers phenom Gavin Lux in the fourth inning that spearheaded a 9-2 Dodgers rout of the plucky Mets.
This is what he is. In big games, he flops more than he delivers. It’s why he underachieved as a Met despite a million dollar arm. It’s more in his head, which he expects to fail when the going gets tough as evident in the fourth inning.
This is the same pitcher that gave the Chicago Cubs a six-run first inning on Aug. 28 in the Mets’ 10-7 loss to them at Citi Field. In that start, he allowed nine runs on 10 hits in three innings, and gave up three home runs. After the Mets came off a four-game losing streak, they needed him to be a stopper for that game instead of making it worse.
In a way, this was penciled a loss on Friday night prior to a few days ago since Syndergaard was pitching. If the Mets take two of three against the National League’s best team, it will be because they won the starts Jacob deGrom and Zack Wheeler made Saturday and Sunday respectively.
To say it was Wilson Ramos’ fault that Syndergaard stunk is providing an excuse and missing the point.
Ramos did not tell Syndergaard to throw a curveball to Lax. He shouldn’t be blamed for the overrated starter to finish his night throwing only 102 pitches in five innings.
As for Syndergaard and the Mets, these starts exemplify why both should get away from each other for good after this season ends. The Mets needed him to deliver after deGrom, Wheeler, Steven Matz and Marcus Stroman set the tone in their sweep of the Arizona Diamondbacks at Citi Field this week by pitching well.
The Mets have long given up on thinking Syndergaard would be an ace. It’s why they greased the skids for him to be traded this offseason when someone from the organization revealed to New York Post’s Joel Sherman and Kevin Kernanthat he pleaded to Mets general manager that Tomas Nido should catch his starts instead of Ramos.
They also grew tired of his behavior when he mouths off. It’s cute when he does that if he pitches well and the Mets are winning. It becomes a tired act when he does not deliver.
Syndergaard hasn’t grown up as a Major Leaguer. He hasn’t evolved as a top-notch starter that everyone billed him to be. It’s just mediocrity after mediocrity with him these last few years. His best Mets moment came in the 2016 wild-card game, which he matched up well against future Hall of Famer Madison Bumgarner. That was it, and it’s hard to believe there is going to be more of that from him as long as he is a Met.
It could be he has to take his act elsewhere for him to be great. Maybe some other team can fix him. It certainly won’t be with the Mets. They exhausted all avenues to fix him with no results. If they wanted him to succeed badly, they would have had Nido catch his start Friday night.
The Mets shouldn’t have to apologize for having Ramos catch him against the Dodgers. It’s not like Syndergaard earned the benefit of the doubt by working with anyone else, and Ramos hit well enough where the Mets need his bat in the lineup to win games.
The problem with Syndergaard is that he let this personal catcher get into his head rather than overcome it. He believes he needs to work with a certain catcher to do well that he let his performances speak otherwise.
Syndergaard beats himself more than whoever his catcher is or the other team. He lets no run support, errors, pitches, inflexibility and superstition get the best of him. When things get tough, he wilts. He displays signs of an immature pitcher.
Friday night’s fourth inning illustrated his night and his Met career altogether. With the Mets leading 1-0 in the fourth inning and one out, everything fell apart as soon as he walked Cody Bellinger. He followed that up by giving up a single to Corey Seager that moved Bellinger to third, and then an RBI single to A.J. Pollock that scored Bellinger to tie the game at 1. Then, Lux did his thing, and that was it for Syndergaard and the Mets.
A great pitcher bears down and throw strikes no matter what. A competent pitcher navigates himself out of a jam. A grown up pitcher steps up and shows grit. Syndergaard has exhibited none of those in his time here. Instead, he turned out to be such a fragile pitcher.
Sure, he can put on a great start once in a while, but the Mets are paying him to pitch like an ace every fifth day.
It would also be nice if he was accountable every time he comes up lame instead of offering excuses after excuses.
Syndergaard needs to have this approach, he is supposed to pitch well every start no matter who is his catcher and find a way to get by with no run support. If Jacob deGrom can do it, so can him.
He is 27 years old. He should be pitching well in the prime of his career. This is where he should be shining now not pitching like a second-year pitcher worrying about stupid stuff.
He’s been a Met for five years, and it’s hard to believe this is working now.
The Mets are likely going to trade him this offseason. They did all they could to fix him, and he did all he could for them. At some point, this is who he is.
Maybe he flourishes elsewhere. If that happens, so be it.
This isn’t working for him and the Mets to keep this lost cause going.
