Phillies Notes: Mets played part in Harang's career renaissance

NEW YORK - Aaron Harang's long and winding career made a pit stop in Flushing in September 2013. The 6-foot-7 righthander spent that season's final few weeks starting for the New York Mets. The next month he was granted free agency.

Considering the 362 starts and 1,780 strikeouts on his resumé, 23 innings of a third-place season in New York should serve as little more than a footnote to Harang's established major-league career. But even now, with the 37-year-old off to an incredible start to the season for the Phillies, he can thank the Mets - one coach in particular - for assisting his career renaissance.

It was in the dugout during one of those games with the Mets when Harang learned the grip for the change-up he mixes so effectively among his six-pitch arsenal. Dan Warthen, the Mets' pitching coach, asked Harang, who then seldom threw his four-seam change-up, if he had ever considered a two-seam grip for the pitch.

The following day, Harang played catch with two fingers aligned across the seams and then dabbled with the pitch in a bullpen session. The grip itself wasn't awkward because he throws more two-seam fastballs than four-seamers. He continued to work on it, and this season and last (with the Atlanta Braves) it has become a pitch he will throw in any count to catch a hitter off-balance.

"He's probably regretting showing it to me now because the last two years I've done pretty well against them," Harang joked of Warthen.

Harang, whose 1.93 ERA this season ranks sixth in the National League, has thrown his change-up 10.2 percent of the time this year, according to the PITCHf/x pitch-tracking system. The average frequency of his change-up over his 14-year career is about 6 percent.

Two seasons later, Harang's brief stint in New York is still paying dividends

In the series finale Wednesday, the Phillies will get their first look at the Mets' latest hard-throwing righthander to earn a major-league promotion.

Noah Syndergaard, a former first-round draft pick acquired by the Mets in the R.A. Dickey trade in 2012, will make his fourth major-league start. Syndergaard, nicknamed "Thor," throws a fastball in the high 90s, a curveball, and a change-up.

Syndergaard, 22, has yet to pitch more than six innings. In his best outing, he held the Milwaukee Brewers to one run and three hits over six innings on May 17. He lost his other two starts.

Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said he doesn't think the organization wants top prospect Aaron Nola to pitch much more than about 170 innings this season. Nola, the seventh overall draft pick last year, is in his first full professional season. The 21-year-old righthander has logged 572/3 innings through nine starts at Reading.

- Jake Kaplan