WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Noah Syndergaard kept his torso covered and fastball to double digits.
After opening his exhibition season last year in this same ballpark and hitting 101 mph on the radar gun before insisting on conducting his postgame interviews shirtless outside the clubhouse, the Mets right-hander kept it low-key Monday under an overcast sky at Ballpark of the Palm Beaches.
His final numbers: two scoreless innings, two hits allowed, two strikeouts, with a fastball that maxed at 99 mph.
But Syndergaard insists he wasn’t holding back anything.
“I feel like if you’re not going 100 percent — I know it’s early — but I feel like if you try to take a little bit off early in games like this, I think you put yourself more at a risk for injury,” Syndergaard said (wearing a shirt) on a day the Mets and Astros played to a 3-3 tie. “If you have got it in the tank, I don’t see why not go out there and get after that.”
A day earlier, Mickey Callaway indicated he was somewhat alarmed to see Jacob deGrom throwing 97 mph this early. So the manager had braced himself for the possibility Syndergaard would reach triple digits on Monday.
“I got to see that last year, at least he didn’t hit 100 [this time],” Callaway said. “But he does it so easy it was nice, throwing as many strikes as he did, and he and Jacob looked like they should at this point in spring training.”
Syndergaard went 13-4 with a 3.04 ERA and 1.212 WHIP in 25 starts last season. For many that would have been a cause for celebration, but Syndergaard also realizes he is capable of better.
It didn’t help that Syndergaard had two stints on the injured list for freak ailments — he strained a ligament in his right index finger before contracting hand, foot and mouth disease — but he also may have gotten too “artsy” for his own liking.
Such was Syndergaard’s description of his two-seam fastball, a pitch he might throw less this season in order to concentrate on the four-seamer.
“I fell in love with the two-seamer because it’s an artsy pitch,” Syndergaard said. “It’s cool when you harness it, but sometimes you have got a little tweak in your mechanics, the two-seamer might move too early in the delivery so it ends up drifting toward the middle of the plate, but I just want to establish myself with the four-seamer.”
George Springer stole second base against Syndergaard and Tomas Nido in the first inning. Later in the inning Josh Reddick was thrown out by Nido attempting to steal second. In recent years, Syndergaard has been among the easiest pitchers in the major leagues to steal against, so teams’ running success (or lack thereof) will be noted throughout the spring when Syndergaard pitches.
“It’s Day 1, I am not too worried about it,” Syndergaard said. “I gave Nido a chance to throw out the second guy, so I still have got to improve every day.”
One topic that seems off limits is the Cy Young Award, which his teammate deGrom won last season with a major league best 1.70 ERA. If Syndergaard strives to join deGrom on that pedestal, he is hiding the sentiment.
“I try to control the controllables,” Syndergaard said. “I try to go out there and win every pitch. If that gives me the Cy Young it gives me the Cy Young, but I am not going to put that kind of goal on myself. I am just going to go out there and be the best teammate I can be and try to compete with the utmost conviction every single pitch that I throw.”