Noah Syndergaard

Noah Seth Syndergaard (born August 29, 1992), nicknamed "Thor", is an American professional baseball pitcher who is a free agent.

He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Mets, Los Angeles Angels, Philadelphia Phillies, Los Angeles Dodgers, and Cleveland Guardians.

Syndergaard was born on August 29, 1992, in Mansfield, Texas, to Brad, a horse breeder, and Heidi Syndergaard, a customer service agent for Abbott Laboratories.

He had limited contact with his two paternal half-sisters, who were 14 and 17 years older than Syndergaard.

Although he grew up in an area where American football was the most popular sport, Syndergaard never seriously played the sport.

Instead, at the urging of his mother, he began playing baseball around the age of seven.

Syndergaard attended Mansfield Legacy High School, where he was classmates with future professional baseball pitcher Tejay Antone.

He was smaller than many of his classmates until the summer before his senior year, when a growth spurt brought Syndergaard up to 6 ft, and a weight training regimen helped bring his pitch velocity from 80 mph to 90 mph.

Born in Mansfield, Texas, Syndergaard did not establish himself as a baseball player for Mansfield Legacy High School until his senior year in 2010, where his pitch velocity was bolstered by a growth spurt and weight training regimen.

Despite his strong season, Syndergaard's late development meant that he was mostly overlooked by scouts and college coaches, and he received only one college baseball scholarship offer.

He turned down Dallas Baptist University, however, when the Toronto Blue Jays selected him in the first round, 38th overall, of the 2010 MLB Draft, he decided to sign.

After three years in the Blue Jays' farm system, Syndergaard was traded with several other prospects to the Mets in exchange for reigning Cy Young Award winner R. A. Dickey.

In 2010, Syndergaard's senior year of high school, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram named him their Player of the Year.

As a pitcher, he had an 11–3 win–loss record and a 1.27 earned run average (ERA), striking out 135 batters and walking only 24 in 88 innings pitched.

He was also a successful hitter, batting .409 with 17 doubles, nine home runs, and 41 runs batted in (RBI).

Syndergaard's late development, however, meant that he was mostly overlooked by baseball scouts.

He had also been injured during his junior season, a time when many college baseball coaches begin looking at prospects.

Syndergaard spoke with coaches for Oklahoma, Nebraska, and Baylor, but the only school willing to offer him a scholarship was Dallas Baptist University, where he committed to play for the Patriots as a batter, not a pitcher.

The Toronto Blue Jays of Major League Baseball (MLB) selected Syndergaard in the first round, 38th overall, of the 2010 MLB Draft.

He chose to forego his commitment to Dallas Baptist, accepting the Blue Jays' $600,000 signing bonus and beginning his professional baseball career instead.

Syndergaard spent the 2010 season with the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League (GCL) Blue Jays, with whom he went 0–1 with a 2.70 ERA in five starts, striking out six batters in 13 1⁄3 innings.

Syndergaard began the 2011 season with the Bluefield Blue Jays of the Appalachian League, Toronto's other Rookie-level team.

After seven appearances, during which he went 4–0 with a 1.41 ERA and struck out 37 batters in 32 innings, he was promoted to the Class A Short-Season Vancouver Canadians of the Northwest League, by which point he could already reach pitch velocities up to 98 mph. In four starts for Vancouver, Syndergaard went 1–2 with a 2.00 ERA, and he received another promotion, this time to the Low-A Lansing Lugnuts of the Midwest League, at the end of August.

He made only two appearances that season in Lansing, with no record and a 3.00 ERA, striking out nine batters in as many innings.

Between the three teams, Syndergaard finished the 2011 season with a 5–2 record and 1.83 ERA in 13 games (11 starts), and he recorded 68 strikeouts in 59 innings.

Syndergaard returned to the Midwest League again in 2012.

Lansing starting pitchers were limited to three innings apiece and paired together: on nights where Syndergaard pitched, he would trade off with Anthony DeSclafani.

This "piggyback system" proved effective in keeping all of Lansing's starting pitchers sharp: by May 25, the combined ERA for the Syndergaard-DeSclafani pair was 3.07, and the team had a 2.56 ERA and 23–13 record.

Through the first half of the season, Lansing led the Midwest League with 47 wins and a 2.80 team ERA, while the trio of Syndergaard, Justin Nicolino, and Aaron Sanchez had a combined 11–2 record and 1.90 ERA.

He made back-to-back appearances in the All-Star Futures Game in 2013 and 2014, but was left off of the Mets' September call-up list.

Syndergaard made his MLB debut in May 2015, following an injury to Dillon Gee.

He impressed manager Terry Collins and remained in the starting rotation for the entire season.

The Mets appeared that season in the 2015 World Series against the Kansas City Royals, with Syndergaard pitching in the team's only win of the series.

The next year, Syndergaard was named a National League (NL) All-Star, and he became one of only five Mets pitchers to strike out 200 batters in one season before the age of 25.

His 2017 and 2018 seasons were limited by injuries and illness, but he managed to start in 32 games for the Mets in 2019.

During spring training in 2020, Syndergaard was diagnosed with an ulnar collateral ligament injury and had to undergo Tommy John surgery.

He returned for only two innings at the end of the Mets' 2021 season.

In 2022, Syndergaard rejected a qualifying offer from the Mets to sign a one-year, $21 million contract with the Angels.

He was traded to the Phillies at the 2022 trade deadline and split time between the starting rotation and bullpen during the team's postseason run that culminated in an appearance in the 2022 World Series.

Following the season, he signed a one-year, $13 million contract with the Dodgers for the 2023 season.