Dodgers News: Noah Syndergaard Has Some Excuses for Recent Rocky Outing

Thor reveals some issues but finds the silver lining in an ugly outing against the Giants.

As the calendar winds down on spring training games, the Dodgers are tending to the last bits and pieces of getting a team ready for 162 games. On Tuesday, LA sent two starters to the mound in a split squad match up. Clayton Kershaw was solid enough in his third outing of the spring but Noah Syndergaard was another story.

On a wet and rainy day at Camelback Ranch, the right-hander looked uncomfortable from the get go. He allowed 5 runs over 4.1 innings altogether, struggling in the second and fifth innings. After the game he shared that he was having some footing issues on the wet mound. He also revealed that he's been dealing with a blister on his pitching hand.

#Dodgers RHP Noah Syndergaard said a blister that has impacted him off and on for a few months and the soggy mound, which made it tough to find his footing, threw him a bit out of whack today. Conditions probably prevented him from bumping his velocity up from 92-94 mph.

— Mike DiGiovanna (@MikeDiGiovanna) March 21, 2023

Here's more on what he said to the LA Times.

“I knew from the get-go when I was warming up in the bullpen that when I tried to use my legs, I didn’t have any footing. The dirt would stick to the bottom of my cleats. It kind of felt like I was throwing on turf, so I just had to battle through it."

The silver lining of the outing is that Syndergaard was able to continue to build up his pitch count for the regular season. If he pitches again in 5 days, he'd be on track to start Sunday against his former club the Angels at Dodger Stadium. That would set him up to follow Clayton Kershaw in the rotation and start game 3 of the regular season.