Dodgers: Noah Syndergaard Points to Where Things Went Wrong in His Career

New Dodgers pitcher Noah Syndergaard thinks he went too far in trying to be like other pitchers, taking away what made him unique and ultimately hurting him.

Noah Syndergaard was one of the most promising pitchers in baseball, finishing fourth in the Rookie of the Year voting after a partial season in 2015 and making the All-Star team in 2016. But a series of injuries and issues in the ensuing years have kept him from ever fully realizing his potential as a superstar.

The biggest blow to Syndergaard's career came in early 2020, when an elbow injury forced him to have Tommy John surgery. He missed all of that season and most of 2021 before signing with the Angels for 2022. Anaheim traded him to Philadelphia at the trade deadline, and overall, he posted a 3.94 ERA in 24 starts.

Syndergaard signed with the Dodgers last week, and on Monday, he met with the media over Zoom to talk about his new team. He also went into detail a bit about where he thinks his career started to derail.

“I started going down a movement and pitching mechanics kind of rabbit hole and was getting away from what made me great,” Syndergaard said. “When I had surgery, everyone was always telling me that I was too big or too bulky, too strong. So instead of continuing to do what made me really good and just chalk it up to like, ‘Hey, it’s Tommy John surgery,’ — a lot of pitchers a lot of baseball players go through that — I completely did an overhaul on my training program. And just like my emphasis in the weight room, it was a lot of mobility, athleticism, and kind of shifted away from the strength and explosiveness.”

A desire to avoid injury is admirable, but there's a cost/benefit analysis to everything. Would you rather be great for five years or mediocre for ten? Syndergaard at 94 MPH isn't really anything special; Syndergaard at 100 MPH was must-see-TV, a guy you show up just to watch. The hair and the physique contribute to the mystique, but Thor was a sensation because of the fastball.

Syndergaard seems determined to get that fastball back. Combine that with Mark Prior's influence and some optimized pitch usage, and it's not crazy to think we could see the best version of Thor in 2023.