Noah Syndergaard

Noah Seth Syndergaard (born August 29, 1992), nicknamed Thor, is an American professional baseball pitcher for the New York Mets of Major League Baseball (MLB). The Toronto Blue Jays selected him in the first round of the 2010 MLB Draft and traded him to the Mets in 2012. Syndergaard made his MLB debut with the Mets on May 12, 2015. He was named an All-Star in 2016, and the Mets Opening Day starting pitcher in 2017 and 2018.\n', ' Noah Syndergaard was born to Heidi, an Abbott Laboratories employee, and Brad Syndergaard, an "Iowa farmboy," in Mansfield, Texas. Brad has two other children by a prior marriage, but Noah is Heidi\'s only child. Brad gave Noah valuable input at every level of his career and Noah has described his father as the best coach that he has ever had. The Syndergaards, like many families in Texas, were "a football family" but Noah did not seriously play any sports other than baseball. Syndergaard\'s mother encouraged her son to pursue baseball when he was a child. He hit his first over-the-fence home run when he was seven years old. Syndergaard grew up watching the Texas Rangers of Major League Baseball (MLB) and strongly disliked his family\'s favorite team, the NFL\'s Dallas Cowboys.\n', ' Syndergaard attended Mansfield Legacy High School in Mansfield, Texas. During his junior year of high school, Syndergaard experienced a growth spurt, growing by 3 to 4 inches (76 to 102 mm) to reach 6 feet 6 inches (1.98 m). Syndergaard also began weight training, and his velocity improved greatly in his senior year at Mansfield, reaching 96 miles per hour (154 km/h). However, his late development still caused him to be somewhat overlooked by talent evaluators. Syndergaard also played basketball at Mansfield.\n', '