Noah Syndergaard used to be among the elite pitchers in baseball, but that is certainly not the case anymore, as further evidenced by his ghastly performance on the mound Wednesday night against the Washington Nationals at home. Syndergaard was so frustrated at how his stint with the Dodgers is going for him so far in the 2023 MLB regular season that he is willing to trade anything just to be in his top form again.
“I would give my hypothetical first-born to be the old me again. I'll do anything possible to get back to that,” Noah Syndergaard said following the Dodgers' 10-6 loss to the Nats (h/t Juan Toribio of MLB.com).
In the loss to the Nationals, Noah Syndergaard gave up five earned runs on seven hits. He issued two free passes and fanned just two Washington hitters in only five innings of work. The Dodgers blew two leads while Syndergaard was on the mound, leaving many LA fans calling for the team to remove the pitcher from the rotation.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, however, tried to be optimistic about Syndergaard's chances to remain a starter, per Toribio.
Asked #Dodgers manager Dave Roberts if Noah Syndergaard is going to make his next start in Cincinnati: “Um, I don’t know. The hope is that he does. Right now I just don’t want to answer that question.”
Through 11 starts in the 2023 MLB regular season, Syndergaard has accumulated just a 1-4 record to go along with an ugly 6.54 ERA and 1.39 WHIP. He has allowed 12 earned runs on 15 hits in his last two starts.