The Philadelphia Phillies appear to at least be doing their due-diligence on the most famous pitcher that could potentially be moved in advance of the Aug. 2 trade deadline.
Matt Gelb of The Athletic reports that “the Phillies dispatched one of their scouts to watch Noah Syndergaard’s start earlier this week.” Syndergaard scattered six hits and one run over 5 2/3 innings in an eventual 7-0 loss to the Kansas City Royals on Monday.
Syndergaard missed nearly all of the last two seasons after undergoing Tommy John surgery in March of 2020. The New York Mets extended a one-year/$18.4 million qualifying offer to Syndergaard, a fan favorite in Queens, this past offseason. He declined that, and signed a one-year/$21 million deal to join the Los Angeles Angels.
By now, you know the story of the 2022 Angels. Joe Maddon is long gone. Mike Trout is currently on the injured list with a back injury. Shohei Ohtani continues to be one the most amazing players that the sport has ever seen, but his time in Anaheim seems to be waning, as he’s set to become a free agent after the 2023 season and likely not eager to re-up with a 42-58 team.
The Angels were always going to be a top-heavy team in 2022, but the thinking in adding Syndergaard from general manager Perry Minasian was that you may get a fully-recovered power pitcher looking to rebuild his value before testing the free-agent market.
Syndergaard hasn’t pitched like the flamethrower that posted a 6.0 fWAR for the Mets at the age of 23 in 2016. His average fastball velocity in 2016 was 98.9 mph. His average fastball velocity in 2022 has been 94.5 mph. Syndergaard has averaged just over five innings in his starts this season, pitching once every six days as the Angels accommodate Ohtani being a two-way superstar. If you thought that Syndergaard would return with a vengeance in 2022 — perhaps like Justin Verlander has — that hasn’t yet materialized.
With that said, Syndergaard still has value. He has a 3.83 ERA, 3.96 FIP and 1.2 fWAR in 2022. At a minimum, he’d be an upgrade over using one of Bailey Falter or Cristopher Sánchez every five days with uncertainty surrounding Zach Eflin’s status. And who knows, maybe as he continues to move away from Tommy John surgery and towards the free-agent market, Syndergaard will catch fire.
The Phillies have one of the sport’s best one-two punches atop their rotation with Aaron Nola and Zack Wheeler. Wheeler was a teammate of Syndergaard’s with the Mets, and noted when asked about the possibility of trading for him this week that while the man affectionally referred to as “Thor” may only be 29, there’s not much he hasn’t seen, specifically in the National League East.
“He’s been around a while now,” Wheeler said earlier this week to Phillies Nation. “He’s a power arm. Honestly, I haven’t really followed him that much this year. So I don’t know how he’s doing, but yeah, he’s been around … he’s got the experience. He knows this division. And he’s a good pitcher.”
Gelb has previously reported that Dave Dombrowski and the Phillies have informed teams that they don’t plan to trade top pitching prospects Mick Abel, Andrew Painter or Griff McGarry. That certainly would have taken them out of making a play for Luis Castillo before the Cincinnati Reds traded him to the Seattle Mariners Friday, and the same can probably be said for trying to pry Frankie Montas from the Oakland Athletics.
However, given both his results this season and that he would be a rental, the Phillies would be able to land Syndergaard without drastically altering their farm system. The same is probably true for José Quintana, who pitched 5 2/3 innings for the Pittsburgh Pirates in an eventual extra-inning win by the Phillies Friday.
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