Saturday afternoon was another perfect day for baseball, so much so that the Dodgers played not one, but two Spring Training games. The Chicago Cubs were visiting Camelback Ranch while a split squad played the Giants at Scottsdale Stadium.
The Dodgers newest starting pitcher, 30-year-old right-hander Noah Syndergaard, got his second Cactus League start in front of a sold out crowd of 12,407 fans. The hope was that he would get at least four innings of work to build up his pitch count.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts shared some of his insights about his new pitcher with the media before the game.
“I think the biggest takeaway initially is his command of the baseball. I didn’t appreciate the command that Noah has with the fastball, the change, the breaking ball,” Roberts admitted. “He’s a very tireless worker. And also, you know, something that I really appreciate is how he’s assimilated really well with our guys. And so, really good teammate. And all that stuff, you know velocity, all that stuff is going to kind of show the results. I feel confident about it.”
The right-handed hurler, affectionately dubbed “Thor” by fans across baseball, actually went four and one-third innings before calling it a day. He laid down the thunder, throwing 55 pitches, 37 of those for strikes, and struck out four hitters in his debut.
Roberts is hopeful that having Syndergaard as part of the starting rotation will help Los Angeles succeed in the regular season.
“You know I don’t think that people understand how late his ball moves,” Roberts stated. “And so I think for me, it’s the delivery that I know that he’s very mindful of. And if he feels good with that, the stuff in-zone is going to play. There’s going to be some swing and miss, there’s going to be a lot of soft contact, and we’re counting on him to log a lot of innings and help us win baseball games.”
Only three batters of the fifteen Syndergaard faced got hits. The first was Cubs third baseman Patrick Wisdom, who singled and was subsequently awarded second base on a balk. So efficient was Syndergaard that Roberts allowed him to begin the fifth inning. Unfortunately, Cubs catcher Yan Gomes led off the inning with a line drive home run to left field for the first run of the game, ending Syndergaard’s day.
“I think starting to get one percent better, just continue that trend,” Thor told reporters after his outing. “Going out there and competing, my stuff is playing well right now. I just continue to focus on getting one percent better every time I touch a baseball, and every time I get on the field to compete, then I think we’re going to be in a really good situation for the beginning of the season.”
After his second start (third appearance), Syndergaard has an optimistic view on the accelerated rate of pitching with the new pitch clock that was instituted by the MLB this season.
“I think it keeps everybody in the flow of things,” the right handed pitcher said. “I think the fans enjoy it. When I have to watch four other baseball games and games that I’m not starting I think I’ll really enjoy it as well. Just keeping the flow of things going, it keeps baseball fun.”
The Dodgers ended up dropping the game 5-2 to the Cubs. However, Syndergaard getting out there and being able to build up his pitch count while eating up innings was a positive take away from the day. He even reflected when asked by the media if he thinks he is in a better position compared to last year.
“I think so, just as far as confidence to be able to get hitters out with any pitch at any given time,” Syndergaard explained. “I’m just trusting the conviction of every pitch. And my stuff isn’t where it was in the past, but my conviction and my competitive nature has I think skyrocketed even more than it was before.”
Baseball is full of wisdom we can use in our daily lives. Like Thor said, we can all afford to get one percent better every day and build confidence in ourselves.
Here’s to many more excellent outings from Noah Syndergaard.
Let’s go Dodgers!