PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — Mets starter Noah Syndergaard has made a point of improving the pace of his delivery to home plate. He has had no choice, really, because he allowed a major league-leading 48 stolen bases last season and teams were increasingly looking to run on him.

Catcher Travis d’Arnaud, who did not catch Syndergaard much last year, has had his own problems with base stealers. Last season, when he missed two months with a rotator cuff strain in his throwing shoulder, d’Arnaud threw out just 22 percent of the runners trying to swipe a base.

He also struggled as a hitter, but the Mets did not acquire another catcher in the off-season. Instead, they brought in a new catching coach, Glenn Sherlock, in the hope he could get d’Arnaud to bounce back at the plate, and behind it.

That brings us to the Mets’ 2-0 loss on Friday to the Houston Astros, in which the tandem of Syndergaard and d’Arnaud allowed four stolen bases. Three were credited to Derek Fisher, and the other to Jake Marisnick, both fleet-footed outfielders.