Syndergaard on trade talk: 'I love being a Met'

MIAMI -- A number of scouts came to see Mets right-hander Noah Syndergaard on Saturday night at Marlins Park, and the flamethrower put on a show in a 4-2 victory over the Marlins.

Though Mets general manager Brodie Van Wagenen said on Friday that he fully expects controllable guys like Syndergaard "to be on our roster," that didn't diminish opposing teams' interest with the July 31 Trade Deadline fast approaching. The 26-year-old is making $6 million in 2019 and isn't eligible for free agency until after the 2021 season.

"I'm trying not to pay too much attention to that," Syndergaard said after the game. "As of right now, I love being a Met. If something were to ever change, it would definitely be bittersweet just because New York City itself, the fanbase and just the guys in this clubhouse have a special place in my heart."

Syndergaard allowed two runs on five hits with nine strikeouts over seven innings for his seventh victory of the season. It marked his first quality start since June 9 and the first time since April 10 that he didn't walk a batter. The Mets followed that up on Sunday afternoon with a 6-2 win to take the weekend series from the Marlins.

According to Mets manager Mickey Callaway, Saturday was also the quickest to home he has seen from Syndergaard, citing numbers in the low 1.4s.

"He kept the ball down," Callaway said. "That's one of the things right before the break we were really stressing to him is [to] get the ball down consistently. I thought he did a great job of that. He was throwing balls right at the bottom of the zone. He flashed some really good changeups. I loved his curveball tonight. He threw some really good sliders and had all his pitches working."

Syndergaard credits his slider -- "the best it's felt all year" -- for opening both sides of the plate in the outing.

For the season, Syndergaard has turned to his slider the least (10.9 percent) of his five-pitch mix. On Saturday, he threw it 19 times (18.1 percent) to make it his second-most-frequent offering.

"I feel like today just overall mechanically, it was the most comfortable I've felt on the mound in a long time," Syndergaard said. "So I just want to be able to take that into my next start."