New York Mets starting pitcher Noah Syndergaard has been named National League Player of the Week for the period ending May 22nd. The announcement was made earlier today on MLB Network.
Syndergaard led the Majors with 21 strikeouts last week and was tied for the Major League lead in wins, going 2-0 in two starts. His 0.00 ERA was also tied for baseball's best mark last week as the 23-year-old flamethrower did not allow an earned run over 14.0 innings of work. On Tuesday, Syndergaard tossed 7.0 shutout innings in New York's 2-0 victory over the visiting NL East-rival Washington Nationals. The Texas native fanned 10 with no walks in the outing as he notched his second double-digit strikeout effort of the season. In doing so, Syndergaard joined Stephen Strasburg as the second pitcher in history to record 230-or-more strikeouts while issuing 50-or-fewer walks through his first 32 career starts. On Sunday, the right-hander tossed another 7.0 innings, striking out 11 without a walk in a 3-1 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers at Citi Field. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Syndergaard is only the fourth Major League pitcher since 1912 to have consecutive double-digit strikeout performances without an earned run or a walk in either. Only Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan (1987), Jose Fernandez (2014), and Clayton Kershaw (three consecutive in 2015) have done so since ERA became an official statistic. With the historic week, Syndergaard improved to 5-2 on the season with a 1.94 ERA (13 ER/60.1 IP). His 76 strikeouts rank fifth among Major League leaders. This is his second career weekly award, having won previously for the week of July 26-August 2, 2015.
Other noteworthy performances last week included Syndergaard's Mets teammates Michael Conforto (.294, 5 R, 3 HR, 4 RBI, .882 SLG, .400 OBP) and Jeurys Familia (1-0, 0.00 ERA, 4 SV, 4.0 IP, 4 G); Pittsburgh's John Jaso (.500, 5 R, 11 H, .560 OBP); Stephen Piscotty (.476, 10 H, 4 2B, .667 SLG, .577 OBP) of the St. Louis Cardinals; Washington's Anthony Rendon (.500, 4 R, 10 H, 7 RBI, .750 SLG, .600 OBP); San Francisco's Madison Bumgarner (2-0, 0.54 ERA, CG, 16.2 IP, 17 SO); and Arizona's Zack Greinke (2-0, 2.40 ERA, 14 SO, 15.0 IP).
In recognition of his National League Player of the Week Award, Noah Syndergaard will be awarded a watch courtesy of Game Time, the leader in licensed sports watches, available at MLB.com.