Noah Syndergaard expects to recapture his pre-surgery form with the Los Angeles Dodgers next year. And maybe then some.
"Whatever I was doing last year was not the best version of me," Syndergaard said Monday, according to Alden Gonzalez of ESPN. "I see no excuse as to why I can't get back to 100 mph and even farther than that.
"It doesn't make any sense. I don't think there's a baseball player in MLB that does what I do when it comes to the recovery and the training and just the attention to detail."
Syndergaard, 30, pitched his first full season last year after requiring Tommy John surgery in 2020. The right-hander posted a 3.94 ERA and 3.83 FIP over 134 2/3 innings split between the Los Angeles Angels and Philadelphia Phillies, notching an average fastball velocity of 94.5 mph and a strikeout rate of 16.8%. His career average fastball velocity before this past season was 98.1 mph with a 26.4% K rate.
The former All-Star's fastball velocity ranked in the 55th percentile in 2022, according to Baseball Savant. It ranked in the 97th percentile in 2019, the season before his injury.
Syndergaard signed a one-year, $13-million contract with the Dodgers earlier this offseason.
