Former Angels pitcher is the victim of MLB's top highlight yesterday

Last offseason, the Los Angeles Angels made an early splash inking Noah Syndergaard on a lucrative one-year deal worth $21 million. They signed Syndergaard who had thrown just two innings in the previous two seasons to hopefully be an anchor at the top of their rotation.

The Syndergaard experiment didn't quite go as planned. He had lost a lot on his fastball and was very clearly not the same guy. Still, Syndergaard had a solid year for the Halos posting a 3.83 ERA in 15 starts before being traded to the Phillies at the deadline in the deal that landed the Angels Mickey Moniak. With how Moniak has looked this season, the Angels hit a home run.

Syndergaard went back to Los Angeles this offseason, but signed with the Dodgers. Syndergaard signed with the Dodgers because of their history with turning pitchers around and reviving their careers (Tyler Anderson is a great example of this) but Syndergaard has been the anomally.

Through 12 starts the right-hander has a 7.16 ERA. His velocity has remained down and his strikeout rate sits at a putrid 15.5% which is a career low. Syndergaard had his latest rough start last night in Cincinnati where he found himself in the spotlight for all of the wrong reasons.

Former LA Angels pitcher Noah Syndergaard is the victim of MLB's top highlight yesterday

The talk of baseball the last couple of days has been revolving around Cincinnati Reds prospect Elly De La Cruz and through two games it's easy to see why. His power/speed combination is unlike anything we've seen with the exception of just a couple of players and it was on full display in just his second MLB game.

De La Cruz launched a 458 foot home run off of Syndergaard deep into the right field seats at Great American Ballpark. Syndergaard would wind up allowing six runs in just three innings of work and then landed on the IL conveniently after the game with a blister.

The Angels seemed to have squeezed the last good bit of baseball out of Syndergaard. He wasn't quite "Thor", but he was a decent fourth starter type of arm for the Halos last season and then they were able to get an outfielder with loads of potential in Moniak for him. Syndergaard struggled as a Phillie and looks completely lost as a Dodger.

Hopefully he can get his season turned around, but Syndergaard has a lot to work on.