Noah Syndergaard has not pitched professionally since he was released by the Guardians at the end of last August. He reportedly drew interest from the Padres and Pirates over the winter but ultimately remained unsigned.
With more than half the ’24 campaign in the books, it seems Syndergaard is turning his attention to next year. Jon Heyman of the New York Post tweets that the former Mets star will make a comeback effort in 2025. He’ll presumably conduct a few showcases next offseason in hopes of finding a minor league deal with a non-roster invite to Spring Training.
Syndergaard was one of the game’s most fearsome starters at his peak. His triple digit velocity hasn’t returned since he underwent Tommy John surgery in 2020. Syndergaard overcame the diminished stuff to turn in a decent 3.94 ERA in 134 2/3 frames between the Angels and Phillies in 2022. Things went downhill last season, though, as he struggled for both the Dodgers and Guardians.
Over 12 starts with Los Angeles, Syndergaard turned in a 7.16 earned run average. He spent a couple months on the injured list before being flipped to Cleveland in a change of scenery swap sending Amed Rosario to Southern California. Syndergaard returned from the IL and stepped into the Cleveland rotation for the month of August. The new setting didn’t provide much of a turnaround. He allowed a 5.40 ERA over six starts for the Guardians before being cut loose.
Syndergaard closed the year with a 6.50 ERA across 88 2/3 cumulative innings. His strikeout rate fell to a personal-low 14.3% clip. An 8.2% swinging strike rate was similarly unimpressive. Syndergaard still filled up the strike zone, walking fewer than 5% of batters faced, but he did so without anything close to the stuff he wielded at his peak. His four-seam fastball and sinker each sat around 92 MPH.
His camp will hope that a year away from game action can help rebuild some of the arm speed that he has lost over the past couple seasons. Syndergaard turns 32 in August, so there’s still plenty of time for him to resume his career. There should be no shortage of teams that have scouts in attendance if he throws a couple showcases over the winter.
