Noah Syndergaard confronted by Wright, Parnell for eating during game

Noah Syndergaard was confronted by David Wright and Bobby Parnell on Tuesday for eating in the clubhouse during the Mets’ intrasquad game at Tradition Field.

According to Marc Carig of Newsday, Syndergaard was “contrite” after the uncomfortable exchange and intimated that he learned his lesson but was “stunned” when Wright first approached him.

While Wright was talking to Syndergaard, Parnell took Syndergaard’s full plate of food and threw it in the trash.

After the confrontation, Wright told Carig that “when I speak to somebody, when I get on somebody, the point needs to be taken.”

Parnell added that “when you have a young and impressionable player, and you need to make him understand something that he’s not understanding, you have to be a little forceful.”

According to Carig, pitchers were told that they needed to be on the field/in the dugout during the intrasquad game,

This is Syndergaard’s first season in big league camp.

Thoughts:

With not much of note to report and the tabloid-like headlines this will generate, expect the “Wright and Parnell confronts Syndergaard” story to get way more play than it should and be analyzed to the point of absurdity.

From my point of view, this is simply a kid who perhaps didn’t know better getting taught a lesson by two veterans during his first big league camp.

According to reports, neither Wright or Parnell is angry and Syndergaard has learned his lesson. That should be the end of this.

Things like this happen all the time in baseball, with a recent example being Jon Rauch trying to intimidate Matt Harvey but Harvey fighting back.

Every scout and member of the Mets who is familiar with Syndergaard says he’s a great kid who adapts easily and is open to learning. Tuesday’s situation should simply serve as his latest learning experience.