Noah Syndergaard, one of the New York Mets’ injured pitchers, is widely recognized as one of the most electric pitchers in the league.
Some, however, consider he is overrated as a pitcher and that he is worse than the perception the public has about him.
Syndergaard is so overrated it's a joke already, this guy needs to put his superhero act away and just learn how to pitch . #lgm
— Metsmanatshea (@MetsmanatShea) May 30, 2019
Here are three reasons why he is not overrated and is legitimately good.
3. He Has Elite Stuff
Right now, Syndergaard is rehabbing from Tommy John surgery he underwent last spring.
Earlier this month, during a rehab start, he suffered some elbow soreness and had to be removed from the game.
The Mets shut him down until after the All-Star break, and he won’t get to show his elite stuff for a little while.
Since he hasn’t pitched since 2019, people tend to forget just how good his stuff is.
His four-seam fastball is what you would call “heavy” and hard to hit.
It consistently averages over 97 miles per hour and can touch 100.
Amazingly, that’s just the start.
While most starting pitchers these days have three pitches and only two are considered good, Thor has three excellent secondaries besides his fastball.
He also throws a slider, a curveball, and a changeup.
Hoskins had some trouble timing up Noah Syndergaard's curveball pic.twitter.com/6VgimnewrC
— Nick Pollack (@PitcherList) April 16, 2019
In his last two healthy seasons, 2018 and 2019, all four pitches graded positively according to FanGraphs’ pitch values.
He can consistently get swings and misses with all four offerings, and that’s what makes him so special and so hard to hit for opposing offenses.
With pitchers returning from Tommy John surgery, there is always the concern if they will get their stuff back.
Well, during the rehab start, Syndergaard touched 97 mph.
2. He Has Gotten Results When Healthy
Whenever he has been healthy enough to pitch, Syndergaard has gotten the job done.
Even in his worst year, which was 2019, he was a comfortably above-average pitcher.
For his career, Syndergaard has a 3.31 ERA, which is very good, but other run-prevention metrics suggest he is even better than that.
For example, his Fielding Independent Pitching, or FIP, is 2.92, and his expected FIP is 3.17.
In his best season, in 2016, he pitched 183.2 innings with a 2.60 ERA and 10.68 strikeouts per nine innings.
Simply put, even at his worst (for example, when he put a 4.28 ERA in 2019) he was good, with a 3.60 FIP and 4.4 Wins Above Replacement (WAR).
1. There Aren’t Many Better Pitchers Than Him
Syndergaard is certainly not the best pitcher in MLB.
To be fair, he is not even the best on his own team, as Jacob deGrom comfortably gets that honor.
However, lots of teams would want Syndergaard despite being considered ‘overrated’ by a minority of fans.
In fact, Thor would be the best, or second-best, pitcher on most MLB staffs these days.
When comparing pitchers using elements such as stuff, results, track record, and future potential, Syndergaard ends high in the list because he offers most of those traits.
He is slated to enter free agency after the season, and if he gets the chance to prove he is healthy later this campaign, he should command a really high contract.
He is not overrated as a pitcher, he just happens to be a bit injury-prone and that has nothing to do with his ability as a pitcher.
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