CHICAGO — In his major league debut Tuesday night, Noah Syndergaard faced the Chicago Cubs, a team that not long ago was considered a possible trade destination for him. Their lineup is stacked with young talent, offering a foil to the Mets and their cadre of highly touted young pitchers, and were thought to be a reasonable trading partner last winter. But as the Mets have struggled through injuries, the right-handed Syndergaard has emerged as an important piece of their current — and possibly future — rotation.
The strapping 22-year-old Syndergaard, who stands 6 feet 6 inches, was up to the challenge for the first five innings of his debut, throwing fastballs in the upper 90s, a changeup in the high 80s and biting breaking pitches that kept the Cubs off the scoreboard.