When Thor’s on mound, Mets shift less

Because Ryan Howard is Ryan Howard, a man with an iron-wrought reputation, the Mets did what they were supposed to against him Monday in Philadelphia. With Noah Syndergaard pitching in the second inning, the team shifted its infield to accommodate the Phillies’ extreme pull hitter, like most every other team Howard has faced for more than a decade.

This time, however, the result was unexpected. Howard’s hack against a Syndergaard fastball produced a grounder to left-center, worming through a hole that typically falls within shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera’s range.

Howard, the poster child for defensive shift philosophy, beat the shift. And he wasn’t alone. The Phillies’ propensity for shortened swings against Syndergaard forced the Mets to learn a lesson: From now on, when the league’s hardest-throwing pitcher is on the mound, they won’t do much moving and shaking behind him.

Such is the battle the Mets have faced as their high-velocity starting pitchers make an increasingly large percentage of their starts. Unlike last season, when Syndergaard, Matt Harvey, Jacob deGrom and Steven Matz did not occupy the same rotation regularly until September, those four have been together this year since Opening Day. When Zack Wheeler returns from the disabled list in July, displacing Bartolo Colon, all five Mets starters could average 94 mph or more with their fastballs.

It’s difficult to turn on that sort of smoke; through the Mets’ first 14 games, opposing batters have pulled a Major League-low 31.3 percent of the balls they’ve put in play against the team’s pitching staff, according to …

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