The Mets will promote top pitching prospect Noah Syndergaard to start on Tuesday, GM Sandy Alderson told reporters today, including ESPNNewYork.com’s Adam Rubin (Twitter link). Righty Dillon Gee is headed to the DL with a groin strain, though the injury does not appear to be serious.
Syndergaard, 22, is widely regarded as one of the very best prospects in all of baseball. The towering righty came to New York along with backstop Travis d’Arnaud in the deal that sent R.A. Dickey to the Blue Jays.
Since that trade, Syndergaard has shot up prospect boards by continuing to show a huge fastball, solid control, and quality secondary offerings, as Baseball America explained in rating him New York’s best minor league arm coming into the year. There is a clear industry consensus that Syndergaard is ready and able to be a quality big league pitcher: BA rated him the 11th best prospect in the game, with MLB.com (#10) and Baseball Prospectus (#9) concurring in the general assessment. Kiley McDaniel of Fangraphs is somewhat less bullish, but only slightly, as he rated Syndergaard just inside the top 20 while expressing some concern with the consistency of the youngster’s offspeed offerings.
Syndergaard has done nothing to tamper expectations so far in 2015. Over 29 2/3 frames at Triple-A Las Vegas, a tough place to pitch, he has a 1.82 ERA with 10.3 K/9 against 2.4 BB/9. That start to the year seems to answer any questions that might have cropped up after Syndergaard proved somewhat easier to score against than expected last year (4.60 ERA) in his first run at the highest level of the minors.
It remains to be seen, of course, whether Syndergaard will hold down a big league job this year. Certainly, the opportunity is there. While Gee has been as solid as usual, and the Mets have ample rotation depth even after losing Zack Wheeler for the year, the club’s strong 18-10 opening to the year only raises expectations and increases the importance of putting the best product possible on the field.
If Syndergaard is able to hold onto an active roster slot all season, he would set himself up for future Super Two qualification. But by keeping him down to start the year, the Mets would retain control over their prized young arm through 2021. Regardless of roster status, it is not likely that Syndergaard will spend the entire year putting up long outings at the big league level; he has yet to exceed 133 frames in a professional season, meaning the club will likely look to manage his innings.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Fantasy pick up or??
Absolutely, all formats
don’t do it. He’s probably going to have this start before being sent down.
Eh I’ve been looking to drop Greene. Looks like he’s going to start a couple of games with Gee going to the DL.
I picked him up Wednesday morning with the hope he would get the call. The very next day we were informed!
Reminds me a bit of a mix of Pedro Martinez and Greg Maddux
That’s more than a little unfair for the kid
Why? He has better stuff than both, I thought I was being light on the comparison
No, just no.
“Why? He has better stuff than both”
Lulz.
haha. Pedro had among the best stuff of anyone to ever put on a uniform.
As does Noah
I’m just penciling him in on my 2036 presidential ballot now, guy is rock solid.
Must be a Mets fan!
Doubt it. If he were, he’d know enough about Syndergaard to realize what he said makes no sense whatsoever.
Padres fan
Better stuff than Pedro? What even.
No.
No….just no.
He is a COMPLETELY different type of pitcher than those two, in both stuff and style of pitching, not to mention also physical size.
In what way does he remind you of either?
He hurls baseballs for a living
Good point. I can’t believe I missed the similarities
He’s got two arms, two legs, and throws baseballs, for a living. There’s no resemblance beyond that.
Pretty cool seeing all of these prospects coming up already for these different teams. Wish the kid luck in the big leagues!
Only in baseball is 22 a kid
What happens if he throws 3 fantastic starts. You can’t send him back after that. 6 man rotation until they can move gee?
maybe a month-long “rehab” assignment
Let’s go! The future is upon us. Can’t wait.
Dillon Gee = Wally Pipp
But Pipp was actually a pretty good ballplayer. Gee has been a 4-5 for most of his career.
Gee, being a 4-5, has been a pretty good starting pitcher. You have to be pretty good to achieve that status. Pipp was good, but not the annual All-Star.
All I’m saying is that Pipp was a lot less likely to lose his job than Gee is. The Mets wanted to get rid of him all offseason.
I doubt the Manager just “suddenly” decided to never play Pipp again. He had thought about it. Gehrig just gave him a reason.
When someone isn’t willing to work through an “injury,” most employers want to teach them a lesson. Lou simply took the opportunity and never looked back.
MLBtraderumors, please get rid of the spam that’s filtered through here! And It’s THOR time! so excited-woot!
want to pick him up…thinking about dumping jimmy nelson for him?
What’s the first rule of fantasy sports?
Have fun
It’s a push, IMO Nelson has bigger upside at least this season, and less of an innings cap.
But by being on the better team Thor can pick up more wins and will probably put up better stats
I know it’s always fun to rag on a hyped prospect and make “lol Mets!” jokes but this guy has some serious talent and their rotation is going to be really, really good . Him and Matz are the best 1-2 punch currently pitching in the minor leagues.
RA Dickey; 4.00 ERA, 4.52 FIP, 100 ERA+
I think the Mets won this one.
Huge win
Mets also got rid of Thole and Nickeas.
And we also received Buccera, a toolsy OF prospect who could make an impact further down the line.