MLB

What Syndergaard learned from Wright, Parnell lunch toss

ATLANTA ā€” šŸŽNoah Syndergaard doesnā€™t laugh about the incident, but four months after the fact, he considers his spring-training lunch miscue as somethinź¦•g that helped him develop a major league mindset.

Then the Metsā€™ ź¦ætop pitching prospect, Syndergaard was eating lunch in the clubhouse during an intrasquad scrimmage in Port St. Lucie, Fla., in February, when team captain David Wright apprź§‚oached and recommended he return to the dugout. As a point of emphasis, Bobby Parnell grabbed Syndergaardā€™s plate of food and tossed it in the trash.

Now a month into his major league career ā€” he is scheduled to face the Braves on Saturday night at Turner Field ā€” Syndergaard hasšŸŒø reflected onšŸŒ³ the incident and said he understands why it occurred, and supports it.

ā€œI wouldnā€™t really call it embarrassing,ā€ Syndergaard said before the Metsā€™ 2-1 loss to the Braves on Friday. ā€œI would jusāœƒt call it a youth learnšŸØing experience for me, and it was kind of ignorant on my part. I didnā€™t see the wrong in doing so.ā€

So what did Syndergaard learn from the episode?

ā€œThe winning attitude,ā€ he said. ā€œThat is something David talked to me about when the whole situatišŸ­on went down. It taught me how to be a student of the game a little bit more. You go out [to the bench] to try to learn something new. You donā€™t need to be inside eating lunch. Something could be happening that you could potentially learn from.ā€

Parnell, who recently returned to the Mets after opening the season on the disabled list, was more reluctant to discuss the episode ā€” āœØwhich was witnessed by at least one reporter and became public. But šŸ§”itā€™s clear the reliever doesnā€™t regret trying to send a message to Syndergaard.

ā€œHe is a professional guy and itā€™s one incident and itā€™s in tź§ƒhe past,ā€ Parnell said. ā€œEverybody has those moments. Iā€™ve had thosešŸ™ˆ moments and itā€™s in the past.ā€

The incident doesnā€™t appear to have driven a wedge betweenš’ the two pitchers. On Friday, the two sat side by side in the clubhouse watching golf on TV with teammates and chatting in between.

ā€œHe looks to me as a friend ā€” somebšŸ¦‹ody who cares,ā€ Parnell said. ā€œI want the best for each and every guy in this clubhouse and to be there for whoever needs me.ā€

These days Syndergaard said he doesnā€™t venture from the bench during play, as he trią¼ŗes to pick up on varioušŸ¤”s nuances.

He would seem to have a good laboratory, with Matt Harvey, Jacob deGrom and Bartolo Colon among the specimens in the Metsā€™ rotationšŸ”Æ.

ā€œI take different thš“†‰ings from watching them pitch,ā€šŸ¦‹ Syndergaard said. ā€œJust the amount of fun that Bartolo has when he goes out there and how he attacks hitters. I mean, heā€™s got [nine] walks on the year.

ā€œAnd the amount I have learned from [pitching coach] Dan [Warthen] ā€” I love working with him. He makes it ź¦†fun coming to the šŸŽ‰ballpark every day.ā€

Syndergaard, who is 2-4 with a 3.76 ERA, gave the Mets a gem in his last start, when he allowed onšŸŒ e run over six innings against the Blue Jays on Monday. As The Post recently reported, the Mets have discussed putting Syndergaard in the bullpen (such a move would help keep him active the entire season as he deals with an innings limit), but there are no indications a move will come soon.

The next big thing behind Syndergaarā™ˆd is lefty Steven Matz, who could be summoned from Triple-A šŸ§œLas Vegas before the end of the month.

ā€œIt is awesome to look at,ā€ Syndergaard said. ā€œMatz is an awesomź§‘e guy to begin with and he has got tremendous stuff to back it up. He is a lot of fun to watch and when he does eventually get here he is going to impress a lot ofš“† Mets fans and contribute to a lot of victories.ā€