World Series: Justin Verlander-Noah Syndergaard still intriguing
Philadelphia Phillies starting pitcher Noah Syndergaard throws during the first inning in Game 5 of baseball's World Series between the Houston Astros and the Philadelphia Phillies on Thursday, Nov. 3, 2022, in Philadelphia. Credit: Matt Slocum
PHILADELPHIA — A few years back, the idea of Noah Syndergaard opposing Justin Verlander in a World Series was a dream scenario.
The brash, flame-throwing Thor against the future Hall of Famer, one of his generation’s most intimidating mound personas. But perhaps the closest we got to seeing both in their prime together was a spring training duel in 2018. Syndergaard nearly broke the radar gun at the Astros’ West Palm Beach facility and shattered the parameters of conventional February expectations.
What we witnessed on that sunny Florida afternoon should have been a preview of Thursday’s Game 5 of the World Series, but the passage of time can be unkind to power pitchers, with Syndergaard and Verlander taking the mound this November as surgically altered versions of themselves.
But four years later, amid a late autumn chill at Citizens Bank Park, it was Syndergaard who looked more like his old self, minus the triple-digit velocity and clad in the Phillies’ throwback powder blues. Syndergaard engineered an incredible momentum swing in the first inning. After instantly falling behind 1-0 on four pitches — a double by Jose Altuve that nearly cleared the high right-centerfield wall, followed by Jeremy Pena’s RBI single — a huge strikeout of Yordan Alvarez turned into a double play with a caught stealing. Syndergaard then whiffed Alex Bregman on three pitches.
From there, Syndergaard appeared in control. Relying on a sinker and four-seam fastball that barely cracked 95 mph, he deftly mixed in a slider/curve combo that the Astros couldn’t solve through three innings. After Pena’s single, Syndergaard retired eight straight, whiffing four of five at one point.
Syndergaard made it only six pitches deep into the fourth inning when he hung a 77-mph curveball to Pena, whose solo homer put the Astros ahead 2-1. That was it for Syndergaard, who allowed three hits and two runs in three innings-plus, striking out four without a walk.
As for Verlander, this season’s presumptive Cy Young Award winner gave back his 1-0 lead on two pitches when Kyle Schwarber pulled a 94-mph fastball into the rightfield seats. He did escape a bases-loaded jam in the second inning, striking out Rhys Hoskins to end the threat.
On that spring training afternoon in 2018, Syndergaard chopped up the defending world champs in a Grapefruit League matchup that seemed to carry more meaning than simply practice, firing 11 fastballs of 100 mph or more.
Fast-forward to this World Series, however, and the former Mets fireballer sounded nostalgic for those years of having the hammer. Two years removed from Tommy John surgery, Syndergaard isn’t completely disarmed, but the elite weaponry is gone, and the Phillies giving him the ball for the pivotal Game 5 was more out of desperation as well as necessity once his original Game 3 start was postponed by rain.
Syndergaard described himself as a “rental piece” after coming over from the Angels at the trade deadline, and it seems as if he’s been searching for his Thor credentials ever since signing that one-year, $21 million deal a year ago. The best he could hope for Thursday night was The Bank’s frenzied crowd supplying a bolt of adrenaline. Maybe Syndergaard has learned how to get outs without a 100-mph fastball (he averaged 94.1 this season) but he can use any boost he can get these days.
“It’s just forced me to focus on executing my pitches,” he said on the eve of Game 5. “Being less internal on the mound and more focused on the external and the results. I really think my Achilles’ heel my entire career has been focusing on what my body is doing during the game as opposed to just focusing on getting the hitter out. I think that’s what really helped me this year.”
Syndergaard twice avoided facing the Mets during the regular season, the official explanation being the need for extra rest, but there was no dodging the greatest test of his career Thursday night against the Astros. In some ways, Verlander was facing a similar pressure from his failure to win a World Series game, the only thing missing from his Cooperstown resume.
Entering Thursday, Verlander was 15-11 with a 3.69 ERA in 33 playoff starts but 0-6 in eight World Series starts. His 6.07 ERA was the worst of any starter with at least 30 innings pitched in the Fall Classic. It’s a stunning blemish, and Verlander’s World Series rep was further tarnished in Game 1 when he failed to hold a 5-0 lead after three perfect innings at Minute Maid Park. For everything at stake Thursday night for the Astros, redemption was on the table, too. Verlander had five days to self-correct, along with 17 years of experience to draw from.
“I think a lot of times the execution follows mechanics,” Verlander said Wednesday. “So yeah, I did find some mechanical things that I needed to clean up.”
Early on, this Syndergaard-Verlander show delivered. Maybe somewhat less spectacular than the spring of 2018, but deserving of the World Series stage nonetheless.
David Lennon is an award-winning columnist, a voter for baseball's Hall of Fame and has covered six no-hitters, including two perfect games.
