‘Thor’ Noah Syndergaard (Cleveland Guardians) received a waiting notice after six games after the trade.
Cleveland notified Syndergaard of the Transfer Designation (DFA) after the Toronto Blue Jays game on the 28th (hereinafter Korean time). If the desired team does not come out during the waiver period, the affiliation is transferred to the minor league or becomes a free agent with complete release.
Syndergaard started this year with the Los Angeles Dodgers. He signed a one-year, $13 million free agent contract and dreamed of resurrecting at the Dodgers, but he didn’t go his way. He suffered a finger blister injury, and he was sluggish with an earned run average of 7.16 with 1 win and 4 losses in 12 games (55⅓ innings). Eventually, on the 27th of last month, he was traded for shortstop Ahmed Rosario and moved to Cleveland.
After leaving the Dodgers, Syndergaard made comments that seemed to diss the team. According to ‘Cleveland.com’ on the 28th of last month, Syndergaard said, “There have been too many boatloads in the past two years. Many people thought they could fix me. Some of them may have been right, but they just didn’t get through to me. My time at the Dodgers didn’t go as planned. I’m disappointed that I didn’t become the pitcher I wanted to be,” he said.
He tried to make a comeback in Cleveland, but even that wasn’t easy. In six games (33⅓ innings) after the transfer, Syndergaard was 1-2 and had an average ERA of 5.40, failing to show any significant rebound. He struggled with 4 hits (3 homers), 3 walks, 3 strikeouts and 5 runs in 6 innings against Toronto on the 28th, and was notified of DFA after the game.
Syndergaard’s overall record this year was 2 wins, 6 losses, and an ERA of 6.50 in 18 matches. His slugging allowance increased noticeably, reaching 22 home runs and 2.23 home runs per 9 innings in 88⅔ innings. On the other hand, 5.68 strikeouts per 9 innings is a career low. He was a power pitcher who used to compete with powerful pitches, but his velocity has dropped, so he is receiving concentrated hits.
Syndergaard, a 198cm and 102kg tall right-hander, made his debut with the New York Mets in 2015 and ranked fourth in the NL Rookie of the Year in the first year of 2015, and was selected as an All-Star with 14 wins, 9 losses, a 2.60 ERA and 218 strikeouts in 31 games (183⅔ innings). He showed off his potential by ranking 8th in Cy Young.
His long blonde hair and muscular body earned him the nickname ‘Thor’, a character in Marvel movies. He played as the Mets’ starting pitcher until 2019, but his career plunged after undergoing Tommy John surgery in March 2020. As he lost his fiery fastball, his pitching power fell, and his main weapon, fastball, was not the same as before.
The average speed of four-seam fastball this year fell to 92.3 miles (148.5 km), 6.4 miles (10.3 km) from its peak of 98.7 miles (158.8 km) in 2016. The average speed of a slider, which reached 92.3 miles (148.5 kilometers) in 2017, also fell 7.2 miles (11.6 kilometers) to 85.1 miles (137.0 kilometers) this year. He became a below-average pitcher as his ball speed was not the same as before and his pitching style did not change.
Source: 와이즈토토