Mets starting rotation is missing Noah Syndergaard this year

Poor pitching performances from their starters have the New York Mets missing Noah Syndergaard early on in the 2020 season.

Missing from the 2020 New York Mets this year, aside from wins, is the presence of one of their biggest personalities. Noah Syndergaard has been a part of this club’s rotation for the last half-decade. Although there have been some ups and downs, we could usually rely on him to keep them in most games.

Unfortunately, Tommy John Surgery came calling and we won’t see Syndergaard throw a baseball in a live game until at least 2021. The negative effects have already taken place with the Mets having fewer places to turn when their other starters struggle.

So far, the Mets haven’t gotten much out of Rick Porcello and Michael Wacha. The pair have made four starts combined and the results have not been promising. Each is pitching for their next contract. By the looks of it, their next deal won’t come from the Mets.

Syndergaard didn’t have his best year in 2019 but neither did many pitchers across the league. Despite a career-worst 4.28 ERA, Syndergaard did have some positives.

Thor managed to stay healthy throughout 2019 which we can’t say for the two years prior. He made just 7 starts in 2017 and followed it up with 25 in 2018.

The injury bug did catch up with Syndergaard earlier this year. Right now, the Mets are feeling the abuse in their rotation.

Heading into spring training, it looked like Syndergaard would be the club’s number two or three with Marcus Stroman in the other role. However, Stroman also suffered an injury and has yet to take the mound for the 2020 squad.

The weapon called “pitching depth” they planned to have didn’t work out. David Peterson has been called upon to help stop some of the bleeding caused by these injuries.

Syndergaard may not have the consistency many want from him. I remember back in 2018 when many claimed he had a bad year. Looking back at it, a 13-4 record and 3.03 ERA in 25 starts, it doesn’t look nearly as poor as many made it out to be. After four combined starts from Porcello and Wacha, I would take a .500 record and a 4.00 ERA then call it an improvement.

Perhaps we’ve gotten spoiled knowing the Mets pitching would at least help them get through some slumps. In 2020, with the bullpen seemingly still trying to figure things out, there is little on the mound to boast about.

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Syndergaard’s presence wouldn’t fix everything. However, without him around, the team has fewer places to turn if Porcello and Wacha fail to turn things around.