Set to deliver the first pitch of his big league career, New York Mets top prospect Noah Syndergaard stared into catcher Kevin Plawecki's target. Coming out of the windup, the right-hander fired a 98-mile-per-hour fastball for a strike on the outside corner and at the knees to Chicago Cubs switch-hitting center fielder Dexter Fowler.
Plawecki's mitt didn't move an inch.
Three pitches later, Syndergaard displayed his wicked curveball, a low and inside hook that grazed some chalk from the batter's box. Fowler tried to check his swing, but he went around and became Syndergaard's first strikeout victim.