Noah Syndergaard finished Spring Training with back-to-back outings that left some to be desired, but his Los Angeles Dodgers debut was nothing short of impressive.
Syndergaard was back on the mound Saturday night for a second consecutive start against the Arizona Diamondbacks, which produced drastically different results. Whereas the right-hander allowed just one run over six-plus innings at Dodger Stadium, he squandered a 4-0 lead and allowed six runs in the loss at Chase Field.
Syndergaard completed just four innings and seven of the Diamondbacks’ eight hits had an exit velocity of at least 95 mph.
Following the performance, Syndergaard lamented his pitch execution and not protecting the lead the Dodgers took in the first inning, via SportsNet LA:
“It was just poor execution on my pitches. They capitalized on just about every single one of my mistakes. It was kind of difficult to find a rhythm, and when I eventually did, I wasn’t successful at shutting down their offense with two outs. Just a super disappointing outing, especially when the offense was like that at the beginning of the game. It’s definitely one I want back.”
Syndergaard further added the start would serve as fuel in his quest to consistently pitch better:
“It just didn’t work out like the first one and it’s motivating to continue this process and work to make sure the next start isn’t like it.”
One notable difference in Syndergaard’s approach his latest time facing the Diamondbacks was primarily relying on the fastball and changeup. He found success against them at Dodger Stadium by mainly throwing a slider and sinker.
Some of that was due to facing the Diamondbacks in consecutive starts, but also feel for pitches in the outings.
Noah Syndergaard’s velocity
As the 30-year-old works to find a rhythm and some consistency, not part of the equation is worrying about fastball velocity.
Upon signing with the Dodgers, Syndergaard said he anticipated getting back to around 100 mph, but he more recently shifted his mindset to getting outs rather than lighting up the radar gun.
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