After a week full of speculation and drama, the New York Mets are finally ending the forced relationship between Noah Syndergaard and Wilson Ramos. Rene Rivera will be behind the dish for his next start Wednesday against the Rockies.
Too Little Too Late?
The Mets slipped to five games out of the Wild Card race with 12 games to play and are all but eliminated. If the Mets wanted to give Rivera the start behind the dish, they should have done it during the series against the Dodgers. The Mets were still in the race and could have used a dominant start from Syndergaard to match Clayton Kershaw’s.
Sources say the Mets' plan is to have Rene Rivera catch Noah Syndergaard on Wednesday. That means Wilson Ramos will sit two out of three games at Coors Field, as the Mets now look to spark Syndergaard by pairing him with a different catcher.
— Anthony DiComo (@AnthonyDiComo) September 16, 2019
There is no doubt Syndergaard has always pitched better to Rivera and the Mets hope to end his season on a good note. He has been inconsistent throughout the year and switching to a catcher Syndergaard is comfortable with could get him on track.
Where Does This Leave Ramos?
Ramos and Syndergaard will likely be on the roster in 2020, but who knows where Rene Rivera will be. The Mets were lucky to bring him back in the offseason, but plenty of teams could use Rivera as their backup. Ramos and Syndergaard will either have to use the entire offseason and Spring Training to get on the same page or just scrap the idea all together.
Noah Syndergaard said he felt like he was "meshing and flowing" with Wilson Ramos tonight. Syndergaard expressed some remorse at the situation escalating this week, but says he didn't — and didn't feel a need to — apologize to Ramos. pic.twitter.com/PX7RPBritV
— Anthony DiComo (@AnthonyDiComo) September 14, 2019
Tomas Nido also has a good connection with Syndergaard and will likely be his personal catcher should Rivera head else where. No matter who is catching, if Syndergaard is not reaching his full potential he will quickly lose the ability to pick his battery mate. There is immense pressure for him to succeed over his last couple of starts, because more than likely there will be a new Mets manager next year. The new manager likely will not be as flexible as Callaway.
At this point, Syndergaard is hosting the baseball version of “The Bachelor” with the three catchers in the palm of his hands.