Phillies acquire Noah Syndergaard from Angels originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
The Phillies have been searching for starting pitching and struck a deal just before Tuesday's trade deadline to acquire Noah Syndergaard from the Los Angeles Angels.
Mickey Moniak and Single A outfielder Jadiel Sanchez are headed to the Angels.
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Syndergaard is on a one-year, $21 million contract and becomes a free agent at season's end.
The Phillies had a need for a starting pitcher with Zach Eflin sidelined by a knee injury. Bailey Falter had been occupying the fifth spot in the rotation and the Phils had little depth behind him.
They fill that void with Syndergaard, who upgrades the rotation but hasn't made a start this season on normal rest. The Angels handled him carefully after he missed most of the last two seasons with an elbow injury that required Tommy John surgery. Of Syndergaard's 15 starts with the Angels, 12 came on six or more days of rest and three came on five days rest. He went 5-8 with a 3.83 ERA and 1.21 WHIP.
Syndergaard was one of baseball's hardest throwers from the time he debuted with the Mets as a 22-year-old in 2015, pitching 19 innings during a deep playoff run that ended with a World Series loss to the Royals.
His fastball averaged between 97-98 mph until 2021 and has sat 94-95 since. He's struck out a career-low 7.2 batters per nine innings compared to 9.7 the prior six seasons but he's traded it for soft contact and quick outs, throwing more two-seam fastballs this season than four-seamers.
The Phillies were active on trade deadline day, adding Syndergaard and outfielder Brandon Marsh from the Angels and reliever David Robertson from the Cubs.
Moniak, the first overall pick for the Phillies in 2016, will try to find his footing out west. He had just 105 plate appearances over three seasons in the majors, missing out on his best opportunity early this season when he was hit by a pitch and broke his hand on the final day of spring training. Moniak had hit his way onto the roster in camp and would have been in the opening day lineup in center field if not for the injury.
Sanchez was the Phils' 12th-round pick in 2019. He's spent the season at Single A Clearwater.
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