If you ever wondered what Noah Syndergaard's last night would look like on the back of a Mets jersey, well, now you know. While the Mets were beating the Nationals in the first spring training game of the year this afternoon, I took a stroll to the back fields where the organization's minor league STEP camp was getting underway for the first time. Today, it was just pitchers and catchers, but there was plenty of work going on with both groups.
Several pitchers threw batting bullpen sessions at the same time, as you can see above, before the pitchers and catchers split up. The pitchers worked on fielding ground balls and covering first base, while the catchers worked on receiving from a pitching machine. It was pretty much exactly what you'd expect on their first day of spring training.
One thing that quickly becomes apparent when watching minor league players is that, even though some of them won't ever see the big leagues, they're all incredibly good at baseball. And even though you could look at Noah Syndergaard's Baseball Reference page and see that he's listed at 6-5, he looks a whole lot taller than that in person. Jack Leathersich, however, was probably the shortest of the pitchers. Let's hope they both continue striking out opponents as frequently as they have in the past.