Mets turn to Syndergaard with World Series on line

NEW YORK - On the New York Mets' flight home from Chicago after they swept the National League division series, manager Terry Collins and his staff convened to discuss their pitching plans for the World Series.

Before they tabbed Matt Harvey for Game 1, the Mets tossed around the idea of having their youngest starter, a rookie, kick off the Fall Classic on Tuesday night in Kansas City.

Instead, Noah Syndergaard, 23, will be tasked with saving New York's season. After losing each of the games at Kauffman Stadium, the Mets face a must-win situation in Game 3 of the World Series on Friday night at Citi Field.

"That's how well we think he's pitching," Collins said Thursday after revealing that the Mets considered Syndergaard for Game 1. "We've got great confidence in him tomorrow night."

In a series that pits a slew of power arms against a deep, contact-heavy lineup, no matchup may be more intriguing than Friday's: the Mets' pitcher whose fastball regularly eclipses triple digits on the radar gun against the Royals' single-you-into-submission offense.

Syndergaard said Thursday that he devised a game plan from watching rotation mates Harvey and Jacob deGrom face the Royals in the series' first two games. He had a front-row seat Wednesday night when the Royals got to deGrom, arguably the Mets' top arm, during a five-hit, four-run fifth inning. They whiffed on a measly three of deGrom's 94 pitches in the game.

But despite the Royals' knack for making contact at incredible rate, Syndergaard said he plans to pitch to his strengths. In 13 innings this postseason, he has kept hitters at bay with not only his tantalizing fastball but also by mixing in his curveball and change-up. His 20 strikeouts give him the best postseason strikeout rate on either team's staff.

Between Syndergaard's swing-and-miss stuff and the Royals' ability to put the ball in play, something's got to give, right?

"He's got a great fastball, great off-speed pitches, too, and we'll be prepared just like we have been," Royals second baseman Ben Zobrist said. "Hopefully we can get to him."

The Royals will counter with a dynamic young righthander of their own in Yordano Ventura. The wiry but powerful 24-year-old is set for already the ninth postseason start of his young career. He started Games 2 and 6 of last year's World Series against the San Francisco Giants. The Royals won each.

Ventura enters Game 3 with a 5.09 ERA over 172/3 innings in this postseason. Kansas City manager Ned Yost said he believes those numbers to be deceiving.

"I'm not looking at his postseason numbers," Yost said. "I'm looking at what I see on the field, and he's kept us in ball games. I think he's doing great."

Yost has penciled in an identical lineup for each of the Royals' 13 playoff games. That will change Friday, when the shift to the National League ballpark will sap Kansas City of its designated hitter, No. 5 hitter Kendrys Morales. Perhaps baseball's comeback player of the year this season, Morales has contributed an .802 OPS over 48 at-bats in these playoffs.

"It's definitely a different game, but I think our team is built well for the National League," Royals first baseman Eric Hosmer said. "We've got a lot of weapons on the bench that we can go to. Just having a bat like Morales on the bench, at any point in time if the situation's right, you can call on his number whenever pretty much."

Even without Morales in Kansas City's lineup, Syndergaard and the Mets face a tough proposition against the pesky Royals. A loss on Friday would put the National League champions in a demoralizing three-games-to-none hole. As it is, only 11 of 53 teams to have fallen behind 0-2 have come back to win the World Series.

This is the second consecutive series in which the Royals jumped out to a 2-0 lead. They lost Game 3 of the American League Championship Series in Toronto, allowing the Blue Jays to creep back into the series. That is a situation they hope to avoid on Friday.

"Right now we're in a good position, but we know we've got a tough task at hand," Kansas City third baseman Mike Moustakas said. "It's a great team over there and we've got to go out and beat them two more times."

kaplanj@phillynews.com

@jakemkaplan