WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. _ Noah Syndergaard took the mound Monday against the Astros, his first game action of spring training, and did what Noah Syndergaard always does: pump high-90s fastballs.
He opened with a 98-mph fastball, his average last season. Then another 98 and another, then a slider at 92, then a fastball at 99 and so on. Syndergaard didn't hit triple digits, and the quality of his pitches weren't anything out of the ordinary for him.
But on Feb. 25, those kinds of velocity readings on the Ballpark of the Palm Beaches scoreboard are striking _ and, for manager Mickey Callaway, just a little scary.
