New York Mets

Mets will have the perfect guy on the mound Wednesday night

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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The Mets have their own ace toeing the rubber Wednesday night

Noah Syndergaard of the Mets and Madison Bumgarner of the Giants will face off Wednesday night at Citi Field in the do-or-die Wild Card game.

While both are among the best in baseball and both can dominate, most of the talk has been about Bumgarner and how afraid the Mets should be. Should the Mets even show up Wednesday night or should they hide under the dugout bench in the fetal position?

We get it. Bumgarner carried the Giants to the 2014 World Series title.  He’s been incredible in the postseason, with a 2.14 ERA and 0.88 WHIP in 88.1 innings. His road ERA in the postseason is minuscule.

But you know what? This isn’t 2014. In the 2012 postseason, which no one has brought up, Bumgarner allowed 10 earned runs in 15 innings.

And someone’s postseason road ERA in a small sample size isn’t predictive of what might happen in the future.

In addition, and not to suggest this means Bumgarner is ripe for the picking, but Syndergaard out-performed him down the stretch, allowing two earned runs or less in seven of his last eight starts. Bumgarner allowed between three and five earned runs in seven of his last nine starts.

Again, Bumgarner has been terrific in the postseason. The Mets should be afraid of his potential on Wednesday night. But the Giants should also be afraid of what Syndergaard can do.

With a fastball that reaches 101 MPH, a slider that can reach the mid-90s, and a plus curve, Syndergaard has an incredible arsenal — one that was on full display during the 2015 postseason.

Syndergaard was largely dominant in Game 2 of the NLDS in Los Angeles and came out of the bullpen in Game 5 to help seal the Mets’ trip to the NLCS.

In Game 2 of the NLCS against the Cardinals, he allowed one run on three hits while walking one and striking out nine in 5.2 innings.

In Game 3 of the World Series, after hinting he’d do something to make the Royals uncomfortable, he sailed his first fastball to the backstop, putting Alcides Escobar on his backside. Then, he allowed three runs in six innings while walking two and striking out six as the Mets got their only World Series win.

After that game, Syndergaard said if anyone had a problem with him throwing inside, they could meet him 60 feet, six inches away. Translation: Thor is a bad man. And he should be feared, just like Bumgarner is.

Syndergaard also appears totally unfazed by the pressure surrounding the game. He’s ready for this.

It should be quite a spectacle at Citi Field Wednesday night, with two of the best pitchers in the game squaring off.

Bumgarner has been one of the best postseason performers in recent memory, but Syndergaard was tremendous last October. And there’s no reason to think he won’t keep that going against the Giants on Wednesday night.

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