Noah Syndergaard isn’t mincing words about his time with the Mets.
Though this year’s team is off to a terrible start, there’s generally been more optimism since billionaire Steve Cohen bought the Mets from the Wilpons in 2020, with the Wilpon era marked by a myriad of missteps.
While Syndergaard says he loved living in New York, the former pitcher’s time at work wasn’t always rosy.
“The Mets still were kind of a s–tshow with Jeff Wilpon running the show,” Syndergaard said during an appearance on “Tomi Lahren is Fearless” on Outkick. “But I was one of the only ones — with the exception of [Matt] Harvey — that lived in Manhattan, and I wanted to embrace the city as much as possible. I think they embraced me back. It was my home for six years. I just love the grit and tenacity and the heart and the drive that surrounds the culture of the people of New York. The saying is if you can make it in New York, you can make it anywhere. It definitely molded me as a human being.”
Syndargaard, now 33, burst onto the scene in 2015, pitching to a 3.24 ERA with 166 strikeouts in 150 innings as a rookie.
The long-haired, flame-throwing right-hander, who was nicknamed “Thor,” had a 3.32 ERA in four postseason appearances (three starts) as the Mets made a run to the World Series, where they lost to the Royals in five games.
He became an All-Star in 2016 with a 2.60 ERA and 218 strikeouts in 183 ⅔ innings, and was dominant in a wild-card playoff game that year, striking out 10 in seven shutout innings in a Mets loss to the Giants.
Injuries derailed Syndergaard’s career, including Tommy John surgery in 2020.
He made two appearances in his final year with the Mets in 2021, split time between the Angels and Phillies in 2022, and played for the Dodgers and Guardians in 2023, recording a 6.50 ERA in his final MLB season.
As for what is ailing the current Mets, Syndergaard, who recently appeared at the White House to mark the reinstatement of the presidential fitness test, seems to believe in the “Curse of the Mambino” after mayor Zohran Mamdani hugged Mr. Met at Citi Field.
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“Stop hanging out with socialist mayors, I guess,” Syndergaard said. “I hate saying it, but at the end of the day, the Mets are gonna Met. I think I’m allowed to kind of say it because I bled orange and blue for eight years, made it to the World Series with them. Just kind of disappointed to see A), who they’re inviting into their clubhouse, and B), just the lack of success that they’re having. Just doesn’t make a whole lot of a sense. They have a huge payroll and it’s not gonna pay dividends for them.”
