Phillies getting to work on tweaking Noah Syndergaard’s pitch arsenal

Noah Syndergaard will make his anticipated return to Citi Field this weekend, but as Mets fans surely will be disappointed to learn, he isn’t scheduled to pitch. Unless you count a between-starts bullpen session Friday or Saturday.

And lately, those are almost as interesting as his actual starts.

As Syndergaard continues his evolution from a power pitcher to a sinkerballer, and as he acclimates to the Phillies after coming over from the Los Angeles Angels in a deadline trade, he’s tinkering with how he deploys his pitches. In particular, he’s working with pitching coach Caleb Cotham on throwing his slider harder and more frequently.

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Consider Syndergaard’s plan Wednesday night in a six-inning performance that turned into a footnote after the Phillies rallied for three runs in the eighth to beat Miami Marlins ace Sandy Alcantara. He threw 37 sliders, his highest total since Aug. 12, 2018, when he was still blowing away hitters with 97 mph heaters for the Mets. The slider also averaged 87 mph, closer to his velocity in 2019 before undergoing Tommy John elbow surgery.

“I think it’s just getting the comfort and confidence in where my slider used to be,” Syndergaard said. “Once I get the feel for it, just got to keep on running after that. I look forward to continuing to work with [Cotham].”

Syndergaard had barely met Cotham before making his Phillies debut. He got traded on Aug. 2, joined the team two days later, and made his debut that night against the Washington Nationals. He threw only eight sliders in that game and gave up a total of 11 hits in five innings of a rain-shortened victory.

They went to work in the days that followed, making tweaks to Syndergaard’s delivery to hold runners more effectively and his pitch usage. Against the Marlins, he sprinkled in fewer changeups and curveballs, shelved his four-seam fastball almost entirely, and leaned on sliders and sinkers.

“I thought his stuff improved from his last start,” catcher J.T. Realmuto said. “His slider was a lot better than it was in his last outing, which is going to be a big pitch for him.”

If the Phillies are optimizing Syndergaard’s slider, it may be because of something they noticed while scouting him last month. In back-to-back starts on June 27 and July 5, he threw a total of 62 sliders — 60 of which were to right-handed batters — and gave up only one hit. Against the Marlins, he used the slider against hitters on both sides of the plate and gave up two hits, both singles.

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The slider has been an effective complement to Syndergaard’s fastball throughout his career. But at a time when his fastball velocity is closer to 94 mph than 98 mph, he may benefit from letting his slider take the lead.

“He mixed a lot as the game went on, and I think that was part of the focus,” interim manager Rob Thomson said Thursday before the series finale against the Marlins. “Also part of the focus was getting the ball down in the zone and getting the ball on the ground with some sink. He got better as the game went on with that.”

Syndergaard’s next start is scheduled for Monday night in Cincinnati. He would then face the Mets next weekend at Citizens Bank Park, marking the first time he will start against his former team after leaving as a free agent last November.

The Phillies acquired Syndergaard for former No. 1 overall pick Mickey Moniak and single-A outfielder Jadiel Sanchez because they wanted to stabilize the back of the rotation while Zach Eflin remains sidelined with a knee injury. In two starts, Syndergaard has allowed six runs on 17 hits and two walks in 11 innings.

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By going 6-1 against Washington and Miami, the Phillies had their best homestand of at least seven games since they went 7-0 against Colorado and Arizona on July 23-29, 2010. ... Realmuto got a rest by not starting Thursday, but the Phillies plan to have him in the lineup for all three games against the Mets. Realmuto is slashing .335/.391/.672 in 121 plate appearances over his last 31 games. ... Former Phillies utilityman Luke Williams started in left field for the Marlins. ... The Phillies are three victories shy of 10,000 in their 140-year history. But the milestone will come 15 years after they notched their 10,000th loss. ... The pitching matchups against the Mets: Friday — Ranger Suárez (8-5, 3.68 ERA) vs. Max Scherzer (8-2, 1.98); Saturday — Aaron Nola (8-8, 3.17) vs. Jacob deGrom (1-0, 2.53); Sunday — Zack Wheeler (11-5, 2.63) vs. Chris Bassitt (9-7, 3.39).