What can I say about former Mets pitcher Noah Syndergaard that hasn’t already been said?
Firstly, I hate the anglicization of his name. The “gaard” looks and feels Dutch. It should be pronounced with a hard “H” and no final “D.” Sinn-der-Haaar.
But apparently, he has distant Danish Viking ancestors. Hence the nickname “Thor,” although Google Translate has a different suggestion.
The second aspect about Syndergaard is that we really don’t know what to expect in 2022. Nobody does.
In his first five years in the majors, the left-hander had a 2.92 FIP with a strikeout rate of 9.7 SO/9. Stellar fantasy production.
Tommy John surgery wiped out 2020 and all of 2021 bar 10 innings, but now he is back. So what awaits us this season should we expect?
Expert rankings
Justin Mason ranks him 73rd. He appears in the 65th position in Paul Sporer’s list. Scott White puts him in his “Fallback Options” tier. And Fantrax rank Syndergaard 65th
Pitchers List have him in their Tier 6 with the description of “Tossed a few innings in relief with his heater velocity slightly down and did not feature a breaking pitch. Sliders apparently hurt his arm now.”
Using a consensus of expert rankings, FantasyPros slots the left-hander at 68th, immediately behind Cleveland’s Zach Plesac. ZACH PLESAC!
With the greatest respect to Rotoballer, who devoted two paragraphs to Syndergaard’s 26 pitches at the end of the 2021 season, fantasy baseball does not need to be this tricky.
Sometimes the essential details are hiding in plain sight.
If the Angels are prepared to pay $21,000,000 plus a draft pick, that’s worth a thousand articles dissecting small sample sizes.
Be brave, be bold, draft THOR.
Photo by Jim McIsaac
Deep League Roto 