It’s easy to look at what Lucas Duda has done in the last week and make the determination he should be named the National League’s Player of the Week.
He may still be the most deserving candidate, but then there’s Noah Syndergaard, who put the cherry on top of a magnificent week on Sunday night in an eight inning, two-run, nine strikeout performance.
He went 2-0 with a 1.13 ERA in 16 innings with 18 strikeouts and no walks. In his start against the Padres last Tuesday, he retired the first 18 hitters he faced, carrying a perfect game into the seventh inning before Will Venable broke it up.
But perhaps the most impressive part of his showing last week was on Sunday, as it took place on the big stage, in the biggest game of the year for the Mets under the spotlight of national television.
It was the difference between tying the Nationals for first place in the National League East, and sitting two games back with a mediocre 5-5 homestand.
He came through for his club and made their five-run outburst stand up with ease.
For the last 2 1/2 years, Syndergaard has been touted as having dominant stuff with an electric fastball and a, “hook from hell,” as Terry Collins put it during spring training in 2014.
But one thing which wasn’t billed was his mount presence, poise, confidence and maturity. Part of that could be because he struggled for the first time in his baseball life in 2014 while at Triple-A Las Vegas.
But he has indeed shown he can be a big game mound presence for this club virtually immediately.
“We’ve talked his last four or five starts how fast he’s matured,” manager Terry Collins explained about Syndergaard. “You don’t see that very often. He came up here with the big tag and the big arm and probably not as much credit for how to pitch. Everybody saw the power arm, just throwing it by guys. This guy knows what he’s doing out there. He’s got a feel for it.
“His confidence is huge,” Collins continued. “If he makes a mistake, he doesn’t get upset. He just goes about his business.”
Syndergaard said he fed off the electricity at Citi Field on Sunday, and reveled in the Mets greatest statement game in the history of Citi Field.
“It’s just a lot of fun to play out there,” Syndergaard said. “Pitching in that crowd out there is unbelievable. I can only imagine when October’s going around.”
Syndergaard made two mistakes on Sunday. One was to Anthony Rendon in the first inning, and the other one was to Yunel Escobar in the sixth inning. Both resulted in solo home runs, but that was all Syndergaard would allow thanks to his electric 97-99 mph fastball which was spot on down and on the corners, complemented by his devastating curveball which has been unhittable in his last two starts in particular.
But it’s that confidence in his secondary stuff, along with the associated command which has transformed Syndergaard into a dominant ace to form one of the most formidable three-headed monsters in baseball at the top of the Mets rotation.
Just like GM Sandy Alderson drew it up.
He’s proven he can come through in a big start for the Mets now. That’s the earmark of yet another ace in what has clearly emerged as a championship caliber rotation in Flushing.
“It’s so much fun to be a Met right now,” Syndergaard said after the game with a smile.
Win-or-go-home game? Take your pick right now.
Syndergaard is 4-1 with a 1.80 ERA in his last nine starts dating back to June 15. He has held opponents to a .183/.231/.291 line, allowing only five home runs and 14 walks with 66 strikeouts in 60 innings.
Just Mets 