If there were any doubts that New York Mets fireballer Noah Syndergaard wouldn’t have the same action on his stuff after an injury-shortened 2017 season, they were quickly put to rest on Monday.
In his spring training debut against the Houston Astros, it took Thor 22 pitches to get through two innings, allowing no hits while striking out a pair.
There was no dip in his velocity as half of his pitches were clocked in at 100 miles per hour or quicker.
He came out of the gates throwing pure gas in the first inning. Of the 11 pitches he threw in the opening frame, Syndergaard hit 100 miles per hour five times and 101 miles per hour twice.
His slowest offspeed pitch came in at 90, which could look like an eephus pitch after seeing nothing but pure heat.
Just look what his 92 mile-per-hour changeup did to reigning AL MVP Jose Altuve:
This is stupid. This is Noah Syndergaard striking out reigning AL MVP Jose Altuve on a 92 mph changeup after multiple fastballs at 101. This is his first Spring Training inning. #Mets #Astros pic.twitter.com/aGMTZXs94a
— David Adler (@_dadler) February 26, 2018
It was a rare marquee matchup in spring as Syndergaard faced off against Justin Verlander, who was just as dominant.
In two perfect innings, the veteran struck out four while 20 of his 28 pitches were strikes.
