Feeling Better, Thor Delivers His Best AAA Performance to Date

Albuquerque Isotopes @ Las Vegas 51s

April 27, 2015

Game One

Jon Gray @ Noah Syndergaard

Teams	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
Albuquerque	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
Las Vegas	1	0	2	4	1	0	X	8	12	0

W: Syndergaard (1-0, 2.45 ERA); L: Gray (0-3, 10.70 ERA)

The Highlights:

Pitchers

THOR!! – 7 IP, 2 H, 9 SO, 83 Pitches (62 Strikes), 6 GO: 5 FO, (2-3, 2 R, 2B (1), SO)

Batters

Dilson Herrera – 2-4, R, 2B (7), RBI (10), 2 SO

Matt Reynolds – 3-4, 3 R, 2 2B (9), 3 RBI (21)

Johnny Monell – 2-4, 2B (1), 3 RBI (11), SO

Alex Castellanos – 2-2, 2B (8), RBI (16), 2 BB

Brandon Allen – 1-3, 2B (2)

Recap

THOR!! Noah Syndergaard turned in his best AAA performance to date, controlling the Albuquerque lineup for a complete game shutout in the first game of Monday night’s double-header. He faced one over the minimum over his 7 innings, not walking anyone and striking out 9 Isotopes batters. It was exactly what you expect from the top-pitching prospect in the organization, and hopefully the start of a great run that can continue until the twilight of his career (we can dream!). The Las Vegas lineup is clicking on all cylinders, and the 51s got a combined 5 doubles from the four hottest hitters in the lineup: Dilson Herrera, Matt Reynolds (2), Johnny Monell, and Alex Castellanos. It was just a completely dominant performance all around from the 51s.

Let’s talk about Thor, ba-by, let’s talk about Dil-lon Gee, let’s talk about all the good things, and the great things, that Thor could be, let’s talk abouuut Thor - let’s talk about THOR! He was great, he'll be up soon enough, end of that discussion. He only dropped in two curveballs the first time through the order, focusing on his fastball/changeup combo instead, but he’d mix it in nicely the rest of the way. It was uncommon for him to throw back-to-back curveballs to a hitter in 2014, especially early in the season, but Thor went back-to-back to Rosario before striking him out in the 4^th, and then three straight to Rosario for a 3-pitch strikeout in the 7^th. Also, he'd really slow the game down with delays on the mound at times in 2014, which the Mets wanted him to work on, and he kept up a noticeably quicker pace in this one. There were a few hard hit balls that went foul, and a couple of nice plays defensively behind him to save a pair of singles, but mostly guys were whiffing or making weak contact against Thor Monday night. He doesn’t have to be this dominant, but if Thor pitches like this over his next few starts, how do the Mets keep ignoring him?

Las Vegas came in with a team OPS of .876 – the 2^nd best is Fresno at .800 – and only added on. The middle infield combo of Dilson Herrera and Matt Reynolds has been insanely hot, with Herrera collecting multiple hits in 11 of 12 games, and Reynolds collecting 7 doubles over the past 10 days. If the Mets were to lose Wilmer Flores or Daniel Murphy to injury at some point this year, either of these guys could come up and be better than replacement-level subs. Unless there are some injury setbacks, I don’t think the Mets will keep Plawecki around as the backup catcher when Travis d’Arnaud returns, although I’d expect him to fill that role again before September 1. So if Johnny Monell keeps hitting like this, how long do you keep him in Vegas over Recker?

The 51s send Tyler Pill to the hill Tuesday afternoon at 3:05 in the series finale. Mother nature sent hail to Reno during Pill’s last start, which sent him to the lockers earlier than he would’ve liked, as he was pitching well and had a big lead.

THOR!! Coverage

(I'll look to update with more info when the archive is up)

1^st inning

1) Brandon Barnes hit a groundout to Dilson (G/43)

i. – called strike 0-1

ii.

2) Christhian Adames lined a single into LF (S/L9)

i. – called strike 0-1

ii.

3) Wilin Rosario flied out to LF (F/9)

i. Fastball – ball 1-0, inside

ii.

4) With Ben Paulsen batting, Adames thrown out trying to advance when a pitch bounced away from Monell

i. 96 MPH Fastball – ball 1-0, low

ii. Changeup – swinging strike 1-1

iii. Changeup – swinging strike 1-2

iv. Changeup – ball in dirt

2^nd inning

1) Paulsen hit a groundout to Dilson (G/43)

i. 96 MPH Fastball – called strike 0-1

ii. Fastball – foul 0-2

iii. Fastball – ball 1-2, letter high

iv. Fastball – foul 1-2

v. 80 MPH Curveball

2) Dustin Garneau flied out to RF (F/9)

i. 97 MPH Fastball – ball 1-0, low

ii. 97 MPH Fastball – ball 2-0, low

iii. 97 MPH Fastball

3) Tim Wheeler struck out swinging (K/Sw)

i. 98 MPH Fastball – called strike 0-1, knee high

ii. 98 MPH Fastball – swinging strike 0-2

iii. 98 MPH Fastball – swinging strike 3

3^rd inning

1) Angelys Nina struck out looking (K/Lo)

i. 96 MPH Fastball – foul 0-1

ii. Changeup – ball 1-1, low

iii. 80 MPH Curveball – called strike 1-2

iv. 96 MPH Fastball – ball 2-2, inside

v. Changeup – ball 3-2, bounced inside

vi. 98 MPH Fastball – called strike 3, knee-high outside corner

2) Joey Wong hit a weak groundout to Reynolds (G/63)

i. 97 MPH Fastball

3) Jon Gray struck out looking

i. 98 MPH Fastball – called strike 0-1

ii. 97 MPH Fastball – called strike 0-2

iii. 98 MPH Fastball – ball 1-2, outside

iv. Fastball – foul 2-2

v. 98 MPH Fastball – called strike 3, at the knees

4^th inning

1) Barnes flied out to Ceciliani (F/8)

i. Curveball

2) Adames struck out swinging (K/Sw)

i. Fastball – called strike 0-1, outside corner

ii. – ball 1-1, bounced

iii. – foul 1-2

iv. Fastball – foul 1-2

v. Curveball – swinging strike 3

3) Rosario struck out looking (K/Lo)

i. Fastball – swinging strike 0-1

ii. Fastball – ball 1-1, low

iii. Curveball – swinging strike 1-2

iv. Curveball – ball 2-2

v. Fastball – called strike 3, outside corner at the knees

5^th inning

1) Paulsen struck out swinging (K/Sw)

i. Fastball – called strike 0-1

ii. Changeup – swinging strike 0-2

iii. 97 MPH Fastball – foul 0-2

iv. 96 MPH Fastball – swinging strike 3

2) Garneau struck out looking (K/Lo)

i. Fastball – called strike 0-1

ii. Curveball – ball 1-1

iii. 81 MPH Curveball – called strike 1-2

iv. Fastball – called strike 3

3) Wheeler hit a groundout to Dilson (G/43)

i. Changeup – swinging strike 0-1

ii. 87 MPH Changeup – ball 1-1, outside

iii. 97 MPH Fastball – ball 2-1, inside

iv. 97 MPH Fastball – swinging strike 2-2

v. 97 MPH Fastball – foul 2-2

vi. 97 MPH Fastball – foul 2-2

vii. 80 MPH Curveball – ball 3-2, low

viii. Fastball

6^th inning

1) Nina hit a groundout to Reynolds (G/63)

2) Wong flied out to RF (F/9)

i. Fastball – called strike 0-1, outside corner

ii. Fastball – called strike 0-2, outside corner

iii. 97 MPH Fastball – ball 1-2, outside

iv. 97 MPH Fastball

3) Ryan Arrowood struck out swinging (K/Sw)

i. Fastball – called strike 0-1

ii. Fastball – foul 0-2

iii. 81 MPH Curveball – ball 1-2

iv. – swinging strike 3

7^th inning

1) Barnes hit a groundout to Conrad (G/31)

i. 95 MPH Fastball – swinging strike 0-1

ii. 95 MPH Fastball – swinging strike 0-2

iii. Fastball – foul 0-2

iv. 97 MPH Fastball

2) Adames lined a single into LF (S/L9)

i. 96 MPH Fastball – called strike 0-1, knee high

ii. 96 MPH Fastball – foul 0-2

iii. 85 MPH Changeup– ball 1-2

iv. 97 MPH Fastball

3) Rosario struck out looking (K/Lo)

i. Curveball – swinging strike 0-1, bounced

ii. Curveball – swinging strike 0-2

iii. Curveball – called strike 3

4) Paulsen flied out to Vaughn (F/9)

i. – foul 0-1

ii. Changeup – ball in dirt 1-1

iii. 81 MPH Curveball

Unmasking the Secrets of Mercury http://t.co/M5hyLBFiFO #mercury #messenger pic.twitter.com/jqAnAsLgNw
— Observing Space (@ObservingSpace) April 27, 2015

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