New York Mets: Noah Syndergaard needs to get his pitch count down

The New York Mets are a team with no identity and a lot of moving parts. One of the things they need to work on is Noah Syndergaard’s pitch count.

Noah Syndergaard is not having a bad year for the New York Mets by any stretch of the imagination. It is just that he is not meeting his expectations. Whether those expectations are fair or not is for a different day. With pitching coach Dave Eiland’s comments being put in the spotlight, it becomes even more imperative Syndergaard performs well and does what is expected of him.

So, with all that, there is a new trend that is happening to “Thor” that I have never really seen before. It is not that he only has three wins because winning a bunch of games was never really his thing. The velocity he has in unbelievable and will only get better as the weather gets warmer. So, it is not any of those things. The problem with Thor right now, the reason why he seems a little off, is because his pitch count is up and he is not going deep into games.

He got the win, as did the Mets on Tuesday night vs the Blue Jays. Not using the delay to start the game as an excuse, Thor was only able to go five innings and exited after tossing over 100 pitches. He still had seven strikeouts. But, in general, he is working much slower this season. For every strikeout he throws, he is sacrificing his pitch count.

On the season, so far, he has 61 strikeouts but has only been able to go 51.2 innings. All the while, he is already almost at 1,000 pitches. I am not trying to say that this is a problem now. Who even knows if it will become a problem at all. Thor pitched well on Tuesday much like he has all season but the Mets need him to go deeper in games. He needs to figure out how to be more efficient. That is not really his fault but it is how he will help the team.

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The Mets’ bullpen cannot keep coming into games in the 6th inning every single night. Noah Syndergaard is supposed to be the number one guy. He needs to be the guy that can go 7 or 8 innings into games and give the middle relievers rest.

Jacob deGrom is capable of going deep into games too and if all wasn’t going awry right now the Mets would be in much better shape.

The shaky rest of the rotation is already putting a burden on the bullpen. Those guys are coming in and either getting rocked early forcing Mickey Callaway to make a change or working slow and getting a high pitch count.

A high pitch count is fine for a three-four-five pitcher in the rotation. Their stuff is not as good and they just need to pitch smart.

However, Syndergaard is the Mets’ ace. He has the stuff to mow down his opposition. Syndergaard has a 100 MPH for goodness sake. He needs to focus on not only keeping his stuff but being efficient as well.

Perhaps he just needs better coaching. Learn how to use his stuff smarter.

But whatever it is, he needs to lower pitch count. Having your ace only go beyond 7 innings one time in nine starts is not going to be effective.

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I am aware that starters only going a few innings is some sort of new trend in baseball but Syndergaard has the skill to be an exception to that. His talent should be wasted on narrative. If that is even crossing anyone’s mind.

But, it is not even the coaching staffs fault Thor is coming out early. His pitch count is indeed high when he is pulled and we would all do the same thing. It is just what is happening.

Maybe with time all of this will work itself out but they need the Mets need their guy to go longer into games. It is not going to keep working out for them.

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