Noah Syndergaard did not have a good outing against the Phillies on Sunday, only going five innings and blowing a three run lead. In what probably counts as “bad optics”, a New York Post story came out that tells us that Syndergaard was pissed off over the weekend about having to pitch to Wilson Ramos.
Noah Syndergaard, simmering all season about his inability to move Mets brass to line him up with his preferred catchers, became livid over the weekend when he had to throw again to Wilson Ramos rather than Rene Rivera or Tomas Nido, industry sources told The Post.
Syndergaard or his representatives have implored the Mets multiple times this season to have the righty pitch to someone other than Ramos, especially since he threw seven shutout innings to Rivera in his previous start. Syndergaard first confronted pitching strategist Jeremy Accardo, then Mickey Callaway this past weekend when he recognized Ramos would be catching him Sunday. He then had a half-hour sit down with Brodie Van Wagenen, but received no satisfaction. Ramos started against the Phillies.
… Syndergaard has an 8.10 ERA in two games with Travis d’Arnaud, a 5.09 ERA with Ramos in 15 games and a 2.45 ERA with Nido in 10 games. He threw seven shutout innings the only time he matched up with Rivera. In 22 career games with Nido, Syndergaard has a 2.17 ERA and it is 2.52 in 29 games with Rivera.
Syndergaard holds no personal animus toward Ramos. He sees this simply as what helps him perform best and, thus, what he views is best for the team. But Syndergaard feels Nido/Rivera call a better game than Ramos, help him defend the running game better and better aid in getting low strikes called.
While I see Syndergaard’s point, I can’t fault the Mets for getting Wilson Ramos in the lineup as often as possible. The guy had … a 24 game hit streak? In a must-game, I’d want Ramos in the lineup too! But I also want Syndergaard to pitch well. If having a personal catcher (or just not having Ramos) really does help Syndergaard, it’s something to consider, and the Mets probably should have helped him out more earlier in the season. But now, the Mets can’t worry about anything but winning ballgames at this point.
And let’s be fair: Syndergaard’s little league game where he threw a shutout and hit a home run was caught by Wilson Ramos.
The only thing I’ll say is that it was the Post that dug this up, and it doesn’t seem as if Syndergaard went whining to the media. It looks like at least he’s going through the proper channels to voice his concerns. Now that it’s out there, it’ll be interesting to see if the Mets do anything besides screw this up. By the same token, now that it’s out there, it would behoove Noah to lie low from this fray and just worry about pitching the best that he can no matter who is catching, and bring this up again in the off-season if he’s still a member of the team … which admittedly after reading this seems a little less likely, though it shouldn’t be. The only person who will look bad if he continue to stumble down the stretch is Syndergaard, and that isn’t entirely unfair.
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