Noah Syndergaard wins 20 games, takes home NL Cy Young
Last season, Noah Syndergaard showed the baseball world that he’ll be one of the most feared pitchers in the NL with his dazzling heavy heat. According to MLB Statcast, Syndergaard finished fourth in the majors in average pitch speed at a whopping 98.3 mph. His average sinker speed clocked in at 98 mph, making it the fastest sinker in the league.Syndergaard expectedly took great strides in 2016, winning 14 games with a 2.60 ERA, while striking out 218 batters and being selected to his first All-Star game. Oh, and he did that while pitching with bone spurs in his pitching elbow the second half of the season.
According to a recent Sports Illustrated article by Ben Reiter, Syndergaard worked out hard this offseason. He bulked up from 237 pounds to 253, while trimming his body fat from 15.1 percent to 13.5 percent, giving him 17 pounds of lean muscle he didn’t have last year.
A key factor in Syndergaard reaching the 20 win mark is run support. In recent years, the Mets have a history of not getting their star pitching the right run support – ask Matt Harvey about that. If the Mets offense steps up this season and helps out Syndergaard when he doesn’t have his best stuff on a particular night, it will make it a lot easier for him to reach the 20 win mark.
But there is one guaranteed prediction – Thor will continue to win us over on Twitter.
Hello Florida….I’m back. pic.twitter.com/kpuJnuxGCO
— Noah Syndergaard (@Noahsyndergaard) February 12, 2017
