New York Mets pitcher Noah Syndergaard has been impressed by new pitching coach Dave Eiland so far in spring training.
Spring training has just begun and New York Mets pitching coach Dave Eiland has already impressed pitcher Noah Syndergaard.
The thing that Syndergaard likes the most about Eiland is how he emphasized owning the inside part of the plate.
“One of my attributes I use in pitching is being able to establish the inside part of the plate,” Thor said on SNY’s Mets Hot Stove on Tuesday, per Matthew Cerrone of SNY. “That’s something he advocates quite a bit. Just listening to him talk about throwing inside kind of just fires him up, which fires me up on the inside as well.”
Thor threw live batting practice on Wednesday with Eiland providing input. He ended up hitting Mets minor league player David Thompson on the arm. Thor might be moving too fast after suffering a lat tear last year and is trying to slow down and make a normal progression through spring training.
“I’ve noticed that,” Mets manager Mickey Callaway told Abbey Mastracco of NJ.com. “I talked to that before I even saw him throw, because I knew about that. He’s a big boy with a good arm. And when you get a guy like that, sometimes it is hard to reel it back. His 80 percent looks a lot like other guys’ 100 percent. So we just want him to make sure that he’s not overdoing it at any time. We’re going to continue to stress, ‘Hey, ease into this, make sure you’re in a good spot.'”
Thor was 1-2 with a 2.97 ERA and had 34 strikeouts and a 1.05 WHIP last year. Eiland would like Syndergaard to throw more off-speed pitches, which is a strategy that Callaway wants his pitchers to use.
“If my fastball command is not the greatest, but I’ve got a good breaking ball, I’ll probably be throwing more breaking balls,” Syndergaard said.
Let’s hope that Thor impresses Eiland the rest of spring training and during the season.
