Has once dominant ex-Mets pitcher lost his fastball? He’s ‘out of whack’

If you want to look for excuses, there are a few: Noah Syndergaard is still recovering from Tommy John surgery, he had a boo-boo on his finger and the mound was wet on Tuesday.

But the numbers don’t look good. First, the velocity on his fastball, which was supposed to rev back up to triple digits this season, was clocked at 90 to 92 mph, once hitting 94. Second, his pitching line: five earned runs and six hits in 4.1 innings, with three strikeouts and a walk in a 12-1 split-squad loss to the San Francisco Giants.

“I knew from the get-go when I was warming up in the bullpen that when I tried to use my legs, I didn’t have any footing,” Syndergaard said via the L.A. Times. “The dirt would stick to the bottom of my cleats. It kind of felt like I was throwing on turf, so I just had to battle through it.

“All the other starts I’ve had this spring, I’ve felt pretty good. This one just kind of felt out of whack from the beginning, but I was able to grind through it and get my pitch count up.”

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Mets fans remember Syndergaard — 6-foot-6 with his hair flowing from beneath his cap — overpowering hitter over five seasons in New York. His four-seam fastball averaged 98 mph, and often hit 100 mph or more.

Last season with the Philadelphia Phillies, Syndergaard was 10-10 with a 3.94 ERA in 25 games. This would be the season he regained his dominance: “I see no excuse as to why I can’t get back to 100 mph … and even farther than that,” he said after signing a one-year, $13 million contract with the Dodgers.

His velocity is trending in the wrong direction, and even Dodgers manager Dave Roberts wants to downplay it.

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“I know he’s probably more obsessed with [velocity] than I am and than the organization is,” he said. “I think people are always chasing what they’ve done before, and he’s seen 100 mph, so certainly, he knows that that’s in there.

“The most important thing is to get guys out, and he’s done that. I think with the injury, this takes time. And it’s a process. So I think the velo that he’s chasing is still in there. I don’t know when it’s going to be realized. But I trust what’s happening. I really do.”

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