Noah Syndergaard’s time as an Angel is over.
The team, which is 16 games under .500, reportedly traded the starting right-handed pitcher to the Philadelphia Phillies on Tuesday. In return, the Angels will get outfield prospect Mickey Moniak.
It was the second trade of the day between the teams, as the Angels earlier sent outfielder Brandon Marsh to Philadelphia for a top prospect at catcher.
Syndergaard signed with the Angels on a one-year deal worth $21 million last offseason. After this season, he will be eligible for free agency.
He’ll go to the Phillies as more of a rental player unless he signs an extended deal with them in the offseason. Syndergaard also cannot receive a qualifying offer, since he was already extended one in 2021 by the New York Mets.
Syndergaard lowered his ERA to 3.83 for the season after a solid outing against the Royals in Kansas City on July 25. He pitched 5 2/3 innings of six-hit, two-walk, one-run ball. Syndergaard struck out six and hit one batter across the 96 pitches he threw, 59 of which were strikes.
Syndergaard came to the Angels after sitting out almost two full seasons in rehabilitation from Tommy John surgery, which he had in the spring of 2020 when Major League Baseball was shut down because of the coronavirus pandemic.
While with the Mets, he came back for two brief outings out of the bullpen in the final games of the 2021 season. The outings helped showcase that he was still worthy of being a big league pitcher despite the significant time missed.
Syndergaard’s velocity hasn’t been what it once was. “Thor” as he’s affectionately called by fans, rose through the ranks as a fireballer, pitching in the high 90s and triple digits. He hasn’t been able to reach those speeds on his four-seam fastball and sinker this season, but that hasn’t been a problem.
He effectively mixed in more off-speed pitches, being less reliant on that high velocity — his fastball averaged 94 mph, which is 4 mph less than what it was in 2019 — in 15 starts with the Angels.
“Overall, I feel like I’m learning a lot,” Syndergaard told reporters in Kansas City. “I’m still getting a feel for my delivery after not pitching for two years. Working with the stuff that I have is going to make me a better pitcher for when the plus stuff comes back. And hopefully, I can dominate even more. “
Syndergaard’s ability to adapt has led to five quality starts, defined by MLB as pitching six or more innings with three or fewer earned runs. He also has five starts in which he pitched into the sixth inning and gave up two or fewer runs.
Marsh, the Angels’ talented outfielder with a penchant for diving catches, was traded for minor league catcher Logan O’Hoppe, who was assigned to the double-A Rocket City Trash Pandas.
O’Hoppe was ranked the No. 3 prospect in the Phillies’ system and played in the Futures Game at Dodger Stadium last month. He had a stellar 2021, in which he jumped from high A to triple A over the course of the season, batting .210 with a .789 on-base-plus-slugging percentage. In 75 games in double A this season, he hit .275 with an .888 OPS.
O’Hoppe, who is from West Islip, NY, is ranked the No. 86 overall prospect by MLB Pipeline. His move to the Angels gives them their only prospect ranked in the top100. His addition gives the Angels a top-rated player at a position they are thin at.
In 93 games (82 starts) this season, Marsh collected 66 hits, 34 runs and 37 RBIs, along with 117 strikeouts. He has the worst strikeout rate in baseball (36.2%).
He notably fell into a slump through June in which he hit just .157 with a .482 OPS. Those numbers improved slightly in July, when he hit .203 with an .641 OPS. Marsh’s penultimate game of the month including working a 12-pitch at-bat for a walk in the eighth inning of a comeback win over the Texas Rangers.
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.