When two dudes—one 6'4", the other 6'6"— with flowing manes walk into a hotel lobby, people take notice.
So when Jacob deGrom and Noah Syndergaard stroll into midtown Manhattan's London Hotel on their off-day, those congregated immediately turn their heads and gaze, including the bellhops who start mimicking their windups moments after the duo are whisked to elevators and up to a 53rd floor suite.
Shortly after, two fifths of the Mets rotation is perched high above the Big Apple, comfortably seated to spend some time talking baseball—including Matt Harvey's struggles, Bartolo Colon's triumphs, and the one hitter they least want to face—as well as each other's luscious locks on behalf of AXE Hair. Here's our wide ranging Q&A with the follicly-gifted flamethrowers.
(This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.)
Have you two ever been mistaken for each other?
deGrom: Yes, all the time.
Syndergaard: It doesn’t really bother me.
deGrom: I just think it’s probably people who aren’t huge fans. The worst is when it’s at the field. I feel like those people should probably be able to tell us apart.
Syndergaard: I got mistaken for you in my hometown this off-season.
deGrom: It’s funny though, I don’t mind.
You guys are partnering with AXE this summer, how would you style the other’s hair?
Syndergaard: My personal favorite is the Softening Cream because when you’re out there pitching it’s a firm hold and it just kind of keeps everything in place. I don’t like to pitch when my hair’s all in my mouth.
deGrom: I use the Natural Look. It gives you a little bit of hold. I don’t want the manicured look, I guess, I would just use that, comb it back and put his hat on. He’d be ready to go.
120 mph coming back at my face? No thanks.
Noah, you jacked two homers against the Dodgers, Bartolo jacked one in San Diego. Matz has a pretty good bat. When does Terry Collins start using you guys as pinch hitters?
Syndergaard: Jacob swings the bat well, it’s just that we’ve been pitched to like position players so it’s not necessarily the easiest to go up there and get the job done. Our hitting coaches work with us quite a bit to run up there and be able to handle the bat well. Whether it’s just working on our bunts or trying to get better as far as swinging the bat goes.
deGrom: I do have one pinch hit.
Syndergaard: St. Louis, right?
deGrom: No. Philadelphia. In (20)14. I struck out, though. I don’t know if I was supposed to swing at the first pitch. Best pitch I’ve ever seen and I took it. But these guys are impressive with the bats. They’re fun to watch.
Do you guys like hitting? Do you wish you could devote more time to hitting?
deGrom: We actually spend a lot of time. That’s one thing that I think our pitching staff has done a good job of. We’re pretty good at putting bunts down and really good at hitting. I know as a pitcher when you face a pitcher you know can hit, that’s not fun. I think taking pride in that and being able to hit helps your own cause. That pitcher is not thinking, hey, here’s another easy out.
Do you guys like the fact that pitchers hit, that the NL has different rules?
Syndergaard: I like that the DH has never been put in place in both leagues. It keeps the game more relaxed and fun.
deGrom: I like that the pitcher hits. I think that my feeling is that everybody should play a position. In order to hit, you have to play a position. That’s just my view of it. I feel that’s more baseball and the games are managed different. I enjoy the National League how it’s played.
Where does Bartolo Colon's home run rank amongst the greatest moments in baseball history?
Syndergaard: Top 10 moments in baseball history.
deGrom: I’d say it’s top of my list of what I’ve seen. I don’t have that much time, a little over two years [in the majors], but it's one of the coolest things I’ve seen. Everybody was so excited for him.
Syndergaard: It couldn’t have happened at a better time, too, because we have this fanbase called the 7 Line Army that showed up to that game and for them to be able to witness that because they’re such huge Bartolo fans was awesome.
How close, or far away, is Matt Harvey from being the old Matt Harvey?
deGrom: That’s a tough question. You never want to see a guy struggle. And we’ve all struggled. It’s part of the game. Really only one good start is all it takes to get some confidence back. You go out there put together a good start and I feel like he’ll be right back on track. There’s a lot of guys that have struggled and last year we probably wouldn’t make it as far without him. He’s a big part of this rotation and we’re all rooting for him and think he’ll be back on track after his next one.
Have you guys gotten a ride from Yoenis Cespedes in one of his whips?
Syndergaard: Other than his horse?
And how was that?
Syndergaard: Terrifying. When you're on top of that thing, I mean, I don’t know how to ride a horse. I’ve only been on a horse three or four times in my life. They’re awesome animals, but I have zero control over it. I was trying to steer it to go one way and it was going the exact opposite. You can’t get too hard trying to kick it so it wouldn’t jump or anything like that. But it was very fun. A cool experience.
Of all the rides he brought to spring training, which one would you like to drive?
deGrom: Did he bring a Lamborghini?
Yeah, he did.
deGrom: I’d probably want to drive that.
Syndergaard. The Polaris was pretty cool but I don’t know if I’d fit in it.
Couple of more baseball questions. Should baseball outlaw the defensive shift?
deGrom: I haven’t put too much thought in it. Honestly, it almost makes me more mad when I give up a hit to where somebody should be playing than when they’re in the shift and it’s hit through the shift. I like them just playing where they’re at. But I don’t know.
Do you feel better when the shift’s behind you or would you rather have everyone play straight up all the time?
deGrom: I like straight up.
Syndergaard: I know the game is revolutionizing and we have access to thousands and thousands of stats and they’re put together to come up with some sort of strategy, but right now I’m sort of indifferent to it.
deGroom: I don’t think you can outlaw it. You can pretty much play where you want to. It’s up to the team.
There’s talk the strike zone may shrink next season, which I’m guessing you two wouldn’t be fans of.
deGrom: I’m not necessarily a fan of that because I like to pitch down in the zone. But I don’t know if those couple of inches will hurt you or not. I guess it’ll be something that we’ll have to wait and see how it goes. The game has been that way for however many years, I don’t know why there’s a need to change it. How tough is it as an umpire to tell right above or right below the knees.
Syndergaard: That’s where I’m coming from.
deGrom: It’s going to be a tough rule to enforce.
Who is the last hitter you want to face?
Syndergaard: I would say Kris Bryant is a pretty tough hitter, but in terms of scariest I would say Giancarlo Stanton. He can hit a ball 5,000 feet off me.
You don’t want to get embarrassed by a moonshot?
Syndergaard: No, I just don’t want him hitting one back at me.
deGrom: Yeah, he can hit one over the fence, just don’t hit one back at me.
Syndergaard: 120 mph coming back at my face? No thanks.
deGrom: There’s been a couple of guys who have gotten me. I used to say Adrian Gonzalez. He’s a good lefty hitter, he’s hit a few home runs off of me. They were a couple of mistakes so if you make your pitches you’re more likely to have a better outcome.
The Dodgers are in town this weekend, so my final question for you guys is did you figure out who is going to plunk Chase Utley?
deGrom: Um…I think that’s something that’s not going to be answered.
Syndergaard: You stumped me.
