Cleveland Guardians Officially Release Former All-Star Pitcher Noah Syndergaard
The Cleveland Guardians released right-handed pitcher Noah Syndergaard on Wednesday, according to the team's official transaction log.
Syndergaard was designated for assignment on Monday.
In six starts since arriving in Cleveland, Syndergaard was 1-2 with a 5.40 ERA, 1.290 WHIP and 4.9 strikeouts per nine innings. Syndergaard allowed five earned runs, three home runs and three walks in 6.0 innings in his last appearance Sunday against the Toronto Blue Jays.
The Guardians, who sit 5.0 games out of first place in the AL Central, went 3-3 when the 31-year-old former All-Star took the mound.
Syndergaard started 2023 with the Los Angeles Dodgers, signing a one-year, $13 million deal with the club this past offseason. After going 1-4 with a 7.16 ERA, 1.446 WHIP and 6.2 strikeouts per nine innings, Syndergaard was dealt to the Guardians for shortstop Amed Rosario on July 26.
Last season, Syndergaard started with the Los Angeles Angels before getting traded to the Philadelphia Phillies. His ERA went from 3.94 in 2022 to 6.50 in 2023, neither of which approach the level of dominance he put on display with the New York Mets in the preceding decade.
Syndergaard finished fourth in NL Rookie of the Year voting in 2015, then eighth in NL Cy Young voting in 2016. Injuries limited Syndergaard to just seven appearances in 2017, but "Thor" returned as a high-level starter in 2018.
Through the first four seasons of his MLB career, Syndergaard was 37-22 with a 2.93 ERA, 1.133 WHIP and 9.9 strikeouts per nine innings.
Syndergaard fell off a bit in 2019, posting a career-worst 4.28 ERA to that point, but he hit a much more serious wall in 2020 when he underwent Tommy John surgery. The following year, Syndergaard made just two starts, and he left the Mets the following season.
The 6-foot-6 righty is 22-25 with a 4.68 ERA since 2019.
If Syndergaard can sign with a new team before Sept. 1, he could still be eligible to be on a postseason roster. In 34.1 innings of work in the playoffs over the course of his career, Syndergaard is 2-2 with a 2.62 ERA, 1.019 WHIP and 11.5 strikeouts per nine innings.
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