While Rainy Lara had a week in the SAL worthy of noting, the first MMN Player of the Week award goes to starting pitching prospect, Noah Syndergaard.

As we all know, Syndergaard was a crucial piece of the off-season trade that sent R.A. Dickey to Toronto in exchange for Travis d’Arnaud. The minute the Mets acquired Syndergaard, he became one of their top ten prospects, and MMN currently has him ranked #3. Once Zack Wheeler and d’Arnaud get the call to join the big leagues, the young right-hander will likely become New York’s new top prospect.

So, what did Syndergaard do last week to earn him such a prestigious honor? He dominated Brevard County during his May 16th start, going 6.2 innings and allowing two runs on seven hits, no walks, and 10 strikeouts. Unfortunately, St. Lucie wasn’t able to turn this solid appearance into a victory, as they eventually fell to Brevard County by a final score of 3-2.

This was a performance that once again, gets everyone excited for the future of the New York Mets and their starting rotation. Throughout this start, Syndergaard was able to continue throwing the 96 mph heat we’ve become accustomed to, but also was able to mix in his curve ball and change up effectively to keep hitters off-balanced. Mitch Petanick went into detail about the performance on Metsmerized Online last week.

It’s great to not only see Syndergaard continue to dominate the Florida State League like he has, but to also grow as a pitcher in the process. Before the season started, his secondary pitches needed to get a little more refined before moving on to the next level of competition. Eight starts into his first season with St. Lucie, we’re already seeing results from the soon-to-be 21-year-old hurler.

This performance wasn’t a fluke, though. Syndergaard has been on a tear since the middle of April. In his first three starts, he threw 12 innings and allowed nine runs (seven in one start) on 15 hits, seven walks, and 15 strikeouts. Since his shortest outing of the season, which only lasted three innings against Fort Myers on April 18th, he hasn’t pitched less than six innings in any of his last five starts. That includes him working into the seventh inning three times. More importantly, he’s only allowed six walks, compared to 33 strikeouts in 32.2 innings pitched.

If he continues to pitch the way he’s pitched over the last month, it wouldn’t be surprising to see the Mets promote him to Double-A Binghamton to continue progressing him through the system. If the apparent “spot start” Rafael Montero is providing Las Vegas today ends up being more than that, there could be a spot in the rotation waiting for him with the B-Mets.

Congratulations, Noah! Keep tearing it up down in Florida, we’re loving it up here.