Noah Syndergaard has strong outing in first start against Mets since departure
For the first time since leaving the Mets in free agency after the 2021 season, Noah Syndergaard faced his old team on Wednesday afternoon in Los Angeles, playing for the Dodgers.
The burly right-hander pitched well in his fourth start of the season, going six innings while giving up two runs on five hits and two walks, and striking out two. He suffered a loss, though, after surrendering a two-run shot to Brandon Nimmo and coughing up the Dodgers’ 1-0 lead in the fifth inning in an eventual 5-3 Mets win.
“They were aggressive, but I feel like I executed a lot of my pitches today,” Syndergaard said. “I feel like it’s probably the best I’ve felt, just in terms of being free and easy and not really thinking about my delivery out there.”
Despite the loss, Syndergaard lowered his season ERA to 4.91 in 22 innings pitched and has gone six innings while allowing three earned runs or fewer in three of his four starts.
Playing his former team for the first time, the 6-foot-6 righty didn’t show too much emotion on the mound, treating it like any other start and said after the game that the team has had quite a bit of turnover since he last played for them.
“There’s a lot of new faces over there, for the most part guys like Nimmo, Pete (Alonso), (Jeff) McNeil, (Tomas) Nido, Drew Smith in the bullpen, those guys I had the luxury of playing with and wearing that Mets jersey with them, but other than that it was just another day at the yard,” he said.
Syndergaard left New York for the other team in Los Angeles, signing a one-year, $21 million deal with the Angels after making one appearance for the Mets in 2021. He made 15 starts with the Halos before getting traded to the Philadelphia Phillies and then signed a one-year, $13 million deal with the Dodgers this past offseason.
The right-hander still hasn’t pitched back at Citi Field, but will have another chance this season as the Mets and Dodgers play a three-game series from July 14-16.
Meanwhile, the Mets now travel to San Francisco and will see a few more familiar faces such as Michael Conforto, Wilmer Flores, J.D. Davis and Darin Ruf.
