PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — Noah Syndergaard began last season on the receiving end of a lecture for blowing off a team scrimmage. He ended it as the only Mets pitcher to record a victory in the World Series.
“This guy has a chance to be off the charts,” manager Terry Collins said on Thursday, when he insisted that Syndergaard grew more in the space of one season than any player he’s ever managed.
Before he made his big-league debut, before his purpose pitch that buzzed Alcides Escobar, before spending three weeks in New York enjoying the spoils of a successful season, Syndergaard committed a faux pax.