Oct 22, 2022; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Phillies starting pitcher Noah Syndergaard (43) reacts after getting the third out in the sixth inning during game four of the NLCS against the San Diego Padres for the 2022 MLB Playoffs at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
Just as the Phillies are set to play the Houston Astros — the team they lost to in the 2022 World Series — Noah Syndergaard, the Game 5 starter in that year's Fall Classic, has resurfaced.
According to James Fegan of Sox Machine, Syndergaard has signed a minor-league deal with the Chicago White Sox:
The White Sox signed Noah Syndergaard to a minor league deal. He’s at the complex in Arizona.
Syndergaard returning to affiliated ball is a surprising development considering he hadn't been employed in the sport since a disastrous 2023 season split between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Cleveland Guardians saw him post a 6.50 ERA across 18 starts.
Really, Syndergaard has never been the same since undergoing Tommy John surgery in March of 2020, shortly before the world shut down for the pandemic. Syndergaard missed all of the 2020 season, before coming back to pitch in just two games for the New York Mets in 2021. The Los Angeles Angels bet on a bounce-back season from Syndergaard in 2022, giving him a one-year/$21 million deal. To his credit, Syndergaard was serviceable in a season split between the Halos and Phillies, posting a 3.94 ERA across 134 2/3 innings. But he wasn't the same electric pitcher he had been at the height of his powers with the Mets.
Things got even worse for Syndergaard in the aforementioned 2023 campaign, where he posted a minus-1.1 WAR over 88 2/3 innings, per Baseball Reference. At one point, a seemingly desperate Syndergaard remarked that he would "give my hypothetical first-born to be the old me again." He averaged just 92.2 mph on his fastball. Not only was this significantly down from his career average of 97 mph, but it was even a drop from the 94.1 mph he averaged the prior season.
Since the miserable 2023 season, Syndergaard has been out of baseball. Frankly, it felt like his career was over before Tuesday morning's announcement. It would be a great story if "Thor," still only 32, revives his career now. But honestly, it's hard to believe that will happen.
