Syndergaard Never Wanted Philadelphia, Now He Can't Get Enough

Noah Syndergaard wanted to stay as far from the Philadelphia Phillies as possible. Now he's as big a fan as anyone else.

Author:
Ben Silver
Oct 28, 2022 5:00 PM EDT

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Philadelphia Phillies

Could you imagine Rhys Hoskins on the New York Mets? When the Philadelphia Phillies are your biggest rival for seven years, it's natural to want to avoid them.

That's what Noah Syndergaard told the Los Angeles Angels at the trade deadline, a source told Jon Heyman of the New York Post. He didn't want to be anywhere in the same division as the Mets, the organization he had been a part of from his age-20 through age-29 seasons.

But as a player, sometimes your fate is in the hands of the big man upstairs — that being Perry Minasian for the Angels. So at the deadline, when Syndergaard was swapped for the Phillies' Mickey Moniak and Jadiel Sanchez, it would have been understandable for the former New York ace to be upset.

Instead, Syndergaard handled the ordeal with grace. No one would have ever known that he never wanted to be in Philadelphia. Now though, Syndergaard is loving his new city and his new team, so much so that the same source told Heyman, "[He] has every reason to be extremely happy now."

After pitching 3.0 innings in the Phillies’ NLDS-clinching win over the Atlanta Braves in Game 4, Syndergaard took his time to praise his ball club and the Phillies fans, "I just wanna say, how about this 'hostile environment' we got going on right here... The Phillies just got that dawg in 'em today. We're pretty lethal when we got the Philly faithful on our side."

Does that sound like a player who dislikes playing in Philadelphia to you?