A cruel season for Noah Syndergaard has become even harsher.
The Guardians released the former Met on Wednesday, making him a free agent after being designated for assignment two days prior.
Syndergaard could sign with a team Thursday and be postseason eligible, but the odds may be against that since a 64-70 team that is out of contention just dropped him.
The 31-year-old went 1-1 with a 5.40 ERA in six starts with Cleveland, and is 2-6 with a 6.50 ERA and -1.1 bWAR including his time this season with the Dodgers.
It’s been a rough two years for Syndergaard following the electric start to his career, and there’s a clear line of demarcation for a pitcher who used to hit triple digits.
Syndergaard posted a 3.31 ERA in his first five seasons from 2015-19, but underwent Tommy John surgery in 2020.
He’s proven to be one of the players whose career has been derailed by Tommy John surgery.
He signed a one-year, $21 million deal with the Angels in 2022 and posted a 3.83 ERA, but they traded him to the Phillies. He appeared in 10 games with the Phillies and tallied a 4.12 ERA.
Syndergaard started the decisive Game 4 against the Braves in the NLDS and suffered the loss in Game 5 of the World Series against the Astros.
The Dodgers then took a shot on Syndergaard, signing him to a one-year, $13 million contract, and they could not work their usual magic. He went 1-4 with a 7.16 ERA and the Dodgers gave up on him at the deadline despite their lack of pitching depth, flipping him for former Mets shortstop Amed Rosario.
While Syndergaard pitched better with the Guardians, they moved on too.
The noticeable trend with Syndergaard is his four-seam fastball is just not the same.
He averaged between 97.6 mph and 99.5 mph during his time with the Mets, maxing out with that 99.5 average during the 2017 season, per brooksbaseball.net.
Syndergaard averaged 93.9 mph in 2021, 94.5 mph last year and dipped all the way to 92.5 mph this year, per the site. That’s a seven mile per hour drop from his prime.
“I would give my hypothetical first-born to be the old me again,” Syndergaard said earlier this season. “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.”
Syndergaard could now be looking at a potential minor league contract next season or perhaps a shift to a bullpen role in hope it could help boost his velocity.
