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Chase Utley could have turned to the Phillies dugout on Wednesday night if he needed anyone behind the plate for his ceremonial first pitch ahead of the fourth game of the World Series.
“Can I catch it?” asked Noah Syndergaard, who starts Game 5 on Thursday for the Phillies and famously threw a pitch behind Utley six years ago while he was pitching for the Mets and Utley was playing for the Dodgers.
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Syndergaard started at Citi Field when Utley returned in May 2016 for the first time since his slide at second base during the previous postseason broke the right leg of Ruben Tejada. The crowd jeered Utley all night and it seemed obvious that Syndergaard would be tasked with plunking him.
Syndergaard was immediately ejected after his first pitch in the third inning flew to the backstop, causing Mets manager Terry Collins to rush onto the field and deliver a tirade toward the umpires that has since gone viral. Utley hit a solo homer and grand slam that night after Syndergaard was ejected.
The pitcher said they’ve never talked face to face about it, but any ill will has seemed to cool. Syndergaard, after joining the Phillies at the trade deadline, tweeted a clip of his throw at Utley after Utley’s pal and Philly native Rob McElhenney tweeted a “letter” at Syndergaard that mimicked the one his character wrote to Utley in an episode of It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia.
“Awkward,” Syndergaard wrote.
“I’ve always admired the way he’s played the game,” Syndergaard said. “He’s a tremendous talent and I’m glad to be able to put on the same uniform as him.”
Syndergaard was scheduled to start Game 3 on Monday but the game was postponed, delaying his outing by three days. He has pitched just once — four outs in Game 4 of the National League Championship Series — since Oct. 15. But the right-hander said he has no trouble staying sharp.
“Really not that difficult to get work in,” Syndergaard said. “I don’t know if you have seen me on the field, I love throwing. It’s addicting to me. Especially because I’m not satisfied with where I’m at pitching-wise. So I’m always trying to work at it, get comfortable. So there’s really no shortage of knocking the rust off.”
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Syndergaard’s final start of the season will come against Justin Verlander, whom he opposed in his first start of the season while he was still with the Los Angeles Angels. Syndergaard and Verlander rehabbed from Tommy John surgery in 2021 at the same facility.
“Justin’s a guy that I’ve looked up to my entire life,” Syndergaard said.
Syndergaard, pitching this season for the first time since his surgery, has not been the same pitcher that he was before the injury. His velocity (94.55 mph) is nearly 5 mph slower than it was in 2017. Once a power pitcher, Syndergaard has had to rework his style. The Phillies aren’t looking for much as they’ll likely ask him to just go through the lineup once before turning the game over to the bullpen. That worked in the clinching game of the National League Division Series when he pitched three innings followed by five relievers.
“It just forced me to focus on executing my pitches and being less internal on the mound and more focused on the external and results,” Syndergaard said. “I think really my Achilles’ heel my entire career has been focusing on what my body is doing during the game as opposed to just focusing on getting the hitter out. I think that’s what really helped me this year.”