Inside The Dodgers

Dodgers News: New LA Pitcher is Leaving Everything About Last Season Behind Him

Will Noah Syndergaard be able to return to his early career form?

Ryan Menzie

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The Dodgers took a major risk this off-season. Instead of spending top dollar on some of the more established free agents, the Dodgers went a different direction to conserve money and signed pitchers like Noah Syndergaard. 

It's a risk worth taking as the Dodgers signed Syndergaard to a one-year deal, a similar situation to the Cubs signing Cody Bellinger. Both players are looking to reset the market with low risk contracts and clearly teams still see the value of these two talents. 

Last season was one to forget for Syndergaard who finished with a 3.94 ERA between the Angels and Phillies over 134.2 innings pitched in 25 games. Now is the time to look forward, and that's all that's on Syndergaard's mind.

“The pitches I threw last year, I just kind of want to throw those away,” he said. “I fully intend on being a different pitcher this next year. So I haven’t really paid attention to keeping those pitch shapes. I plan on evolving and working with what I got then.”

Syndergaard wants to move away from how those pitches were executed last season. Of course, this is much easier said than done, but the sky is truly the limit for Syndergaard. 

Not too long ago, Syndergaard was in the running for a Cy Young award but inevitably lost to Max Scherzer in 2016. Now with a newfound opportunity with the Dodgers, who were desperately looking for some pitching depth, he has a chance to prove to the fans he is truly looking ahead for greener pastures. 

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Ryan Menzie
RYAN MENZIE

Ryan Menzie | Lead Contributor Ryan is an LA Native who has grown up praising the greatest athletes LA has had to offer. A love for sports ranging between basketball, football, volleyball and golf, a future Sports Management Masters graduate, and being engulfed into organized sports since seven years old, the passion and love for sports never ends for Ryan. If the words he writes don't paint the full picture of his true fandom, he will find more ways than one to tell the story and be more than willing to open up a nice LA sports debate with you. Favorite Player: Mookie Betts Favorite Moment: 2020 World Series. The Lakers won the NBA title and the Dodgers secured the World Series only a couple of months later. During such a rough time with COVID-19 and such a bleak look at how sports has tried to overcome the circumstances, it was a relief to see the night sky lit up for many nights and a makeshift parade in LA when it seemed like we needed it the most.

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