After putting together a 3.32 ERA over six flamethrowing seasons with the New York Mets, Noah Syndergaard looks like a completely different pitcher now for the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Syndergaard allowed five earned runs and three home runs over five innings pitched in the Dodgers’ 10-6 loss to the rebuilding Washington Nationals on Wednesday in Los Angeles.
Keibert Ruiz and C.J. Abrams go back to back off Syndergaard! pic.twitter.com/pDLg2SN6sV
— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) May 31, 2023
“Thor” now has a 6.54 ERA over 52 1/3 innings pitched (11 starts) with the Dodgers this season. Los Angeles is 4-7 in those games, while having a record of 30-16 in its other games.
After Wednesday’s loss, Syndergaard told the media, “I would give my hypothetical first-born to be the old me again.”
Syndergaard added, “It really sucks. Right now I just feel like I’m the weakest link on this team.”
Here’s more from Syndergaard, via MLB.com:
“It really sucks,” Syndergaard said. “Right now I just feel like I’m the weakest link on this team. I want to go out there and compete and be successful for the other guys in this clubhouse, but it’s just not working out.”
“Trying to make big adjustments in between starts isn’t the easiest,” Syndergaard said. “I would give my hypothetical first-born to be the old me again. I’ll do anything possible to get back to that. I’m expected to go out there and compete, and today I just fell behind a lot of hitters.”
The Dodgers signed Syndergaard to a one-year, $13 million contract over the offseason.
In 2022, Syndergaard put together a 3.94 ERA over 134 2/3 innings pitched, throwing 80 of the innings with the Los Angeles Angels and 54 2/3 of the innings with the Philadelphia Phillies. He averaged 94.5 mph on his fastball velocity and struck out 6.35 batters per nine innings pitched, after annually averaging in the upper 90s (including 99.6 mph in 2017) with the Mets.
This season, those trends are looking even worse for Syndergaard. He’s striking out just 6.07 batters per nine innings and has a 15.3 percent strikeout rate. He entered Wednesday averaging 92.7 mph on his fastball; the major-league average fastball in 2023 is 94.0 mph. A pitcher that overpowered hitters for most of his career now has below-average velocity. It’s not surprising that he’s struggling to make that work.
Signing Syndergaard on a one-year deal was an understandable decision for the Dodgers. They surely thought it was possible he’d rediscover his Mets velocity. And even without that velocity, he was still a solid starting pitcher last season.
But with how it’s going so far, and with Syndergaard’s velocity trends just getting worse, it has to be getting near time for the title-contending Dodgers to consider removing him from the starting rotation.
