Noah Seth Syndergaard, born on August 29, 1992, nicknamed “Thor”, is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Los Angeles Angels of Major League Baseball (MLB). From 2015 to 2021, he played in MLB for the New York Mets.
Born in Mansfield, Texas, Syndergaard did not establish himself as a baseball player for Mansfield Legacy High School until his senior year in 2010, where his pitch velocity was bolstered by a growth spurt and weight training regimen.
Despite his strong season, Syndergaard’s late development meant that he was mostly overlooked by scouts and college coaches, and he received only one college baseball scholarship offer.
He turned down Dallas Baptist University, however, when the Toronto Blue Jays selected him in the first round, 38th overall, of the 2010 MLB Draft. After three years in the Blue Jays’ farm system, Syndergaard was traded with several other prospects to the Mets in exchange for reigning Cy Young Award winner R. A. Dickey. He made back-to-back appearances in the All-Star Futures Game in 2013 and 2014 but was left off of the Mets’ September call-up list.
Although the Mets tendered Syndergaard a qualifying offer for the 2022 MLB season, on November 17, 2021, he signed a one-year, $21 million contract with the Los Angeles Angels, breaking Jered Weaver and C. J. Wilson’s record for the highest per-season earnings of any pitcher in franchise history.
Syndergaard became the first Angels player since the late Nick Adenhart to wear No. 34, receiving the approval of the Adenhart family. In his Angels debut on April 9, 2022, Syndergaard pitched 5+1⁄3 innings while giving up 2 hits and 2 walks, contributing to a shutout of the Houston Astros. He induced 11 groundball outs and struck out only one, the lowest amount of strikeouts in a multi-inning start in his career.