Noah Syndergaard is familiar with some of the biggest names in Mets history to make Opening Day starts, but until Friday, he hadn’t stopped to consider his looming addition to the fraternity.
Tom Seaver, Dwight Gooden and Johan Santana were three of the names lobbed at the 24-year-old Syndergaard, who has shown enough potential in his two seasons with the Mets maybe someday to head that list.
“That is a real cool feeling to be in the same sentence as those guys,” said Syndergaard, who is scheduled to face the Braves in Monday’s season opener at Citi Field. “Those guys are legends and all had great careers, so I hope to follow in their footsteps.”
Syndergaard was the natural choice for Opening Day, after a season in which he represented the Mets in the All-Star Game and emerged as the staff ace, going 14-9 with a 2.60 ERA in 31 appearances.
There was so little question about Syndergaard getting the nod for the opener that manager Terry Collins made the announcement early in spring training, well ahead of his usual timetable.Matt Harvey started last year’s opener for the Mets, in Kansas City, but missed half the season after undergoing surgery for thoracic outlet syndrome. The other potential candidate for Opening Day honors, Jacob deGrom, missed the final six weeks with a dislocated ulnar nerve in his elbow.
“I feel like it doesn’t matter if I start Opening Day or not,” Syndergaard said. “I feel like we’ve got five aces on the team to come in and do the job. I am just fortunate enough to lead us off and set the tone for the rest of the season.”
Syndergaard electrified ballparks last season with his 100-mph-plus heat but has talked this spring about throwing his changeup more often and trying to pitch smarter. At issue last season was Syndergaard’s inflated pitch counts that kept him from working as deep into games as he would have liked.
“He’s now settled into, ‘Hey, look, I’m going to get some easy outs, I’m going to get some outs early in the count, so I can get deeper in games,’ and that is what he does today,” Collins said.
“He knows what he is doing out there. He has the great persona going, but this guy has an idea of what he needs to do on the mound and he uses his repertoire, the two-seamer, the changeups, to get guys out. He’s not just out there trying strike guys out.”
Along the way, Syndergaard has developed a strong bond with Rene Rivera, who emerged as his personal catcher last season. The Mets experimented with Travis d’Arnaud behind the plate for Syndergaard in spring training but are likely to stick with Rivera when their ace pitches.
“It feels like an older brother to me,” Syndergaard said. “[Rivera] is extremely honest, he will tell me when I [stink], he will tell me when I do things good, so I am extremely blessed to have him on this team.”
Syndergaard fired a gem in his last appearance at Citi Field: a two-hit shutout over seven innings against the Giants in the NL Wild Card Game last Oct. 5. But the Mets had their own trouble against Madison Bumgarner and lost 3-0 after Conor Gillaspie hit a three-run homer against Jeurys Familia in the ninth.
After spending the last two months in Port St. Lucie, Fla., building up for the season, Syndergaard says he feels at home.
“I love the city, I love the fans,” he said. “And I am looking forward to a real fun, successful 2017 season.”