2022 World Series: Justin Verlander, Noah Syndergaard's paths converge again

PHILADELPHIA — Game 5 of the World Series won't be the first time Noah Syndergaard and Justin Verlander share a building. It's just that on Thursday night, there will be a few more people around.

For two separate blocks of time — April 2020 to May 2020 and again from October 2020 to early February 2021 — Syndergaard and Verlander saw one another multiple times a week. Beneath the cavernous warehouse roof of the Cressey Sports Performance gym in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, two of the game’s most recognizable pitchers spent hours upon hours rehabbing injuries. For Syndergaard, it was a controversial Tommy John surgery in late March of 2020, whereas Verlander was rehabbing a March 17th groin operation, and then, come November, a Tommy John of his own.

In part because their different injury and recovery timelines meant they never worked out together, together, the two men did not become close friends. No life-long bond was fostered. There’s no animosity or beef either; it's just that nobody is attending anyone else’s Thanksgiving dinner. But as the two hurlers worked through their physical therapy outside the public eye, they developed an implicit respect and appreciation for one another. 

By sharing a space, a physical therapist and most importantly, the common experience of Tommy John rehab, Syndergaard and Verlander indirectly pushed one another during perhaps the most vulnerable period of their careers.

Serendipitously, the two pitchers both signed one-year deals with clubs in the AL West and faced off against one another in their first starts of the 2022 season. For Verlander, who, the season before tearing his UCL had captured a second-career Cy Young, it was outing No. 1 back on an MLB mound post-TJ. And while Syndergaard made two one-inning appearances for the Mets late in 2021 to showcase himself before hitting free agency, his Angels debut opposite Verlander was his first true start with his new elbow. 

On that day in April, Syndergaard outpitched Verlander, allowing only two hits across five and a third scoreless innings in a 2-0 Angels victory. Verlander looked sharp himself, striking out seven in five frames, but took a tough-luck loss thanks to a Jared Walsh solo shot. Thor's superiority was not a sign of things to come.

From there, Verlander and Syndergaard's seasons diverged. The Astros ace rediscovered the magic, and then some, carving his way to a microscopic 1.75 ERA in 28 starts. In a few months' time, Verlander will win a third Cy Young for his exploits.

Syndergaard, who the Angels signed in November of 2021 to a one-year $21 million dollar deal, had a much less emphatic comeback campaign. Because of the surgery, his trademark velocity vanished — in 2019 he threw 1,718 pitches over 96 mph, in 2022 he threw just eight that hard — and as a result, his first season back was more solid than spectacular. 

At the deadline, Anaheim dealt the tall right-hander to Philly. Expected to solidify the back of the Phillies rotation, Syndergaard scuffled upon joining his new club and by late September had been relegated to the bullpen for the first time in his career.

But the baseball gods work in mysterious ways. Thanks to the whims of mother nature and the lack of other obvious Phillies pitching options, Syndergaard and Verlander will cross paths again. But this time it won't be on opposite sides of an empty gym, echoing with the occasional clang, bang or grunt; it'll be in front of a cacophonous sold-out World Series crowd, with a commanding 3-2 series lead up for grabs. 

Eric Schoenberg remembers the eeriness of it all. The head of Diamond Physical Therapy, which operates out of the same facility under the Cressey Sports Performance umbrella, was one of the few people present for those early pandemic Verlander/Syndergaard rehab days. On Thursday, he'll be one of 45,000-plus at Citizens Bank Park.

As the state of Florida, like many other states at the time, began to implement lockdowns of nonessential businesses, Diamond Physical Therapy remained open thanks to its status as a medical care provider. Schoenberg had initially planned to temporarily close the facility until he heard Syndergaard was looking for a place to recover. That changed his plans. A day later, he found out that Verlander needed a spot, too. 

"It wasn't just me and the two of them alone in the gym," Schoenberg told FOX Sports. "But it was definitely more intimate than usual in terms of the setup."

The Cressey Sports Performance complex on the east coast of Florida, widely considered one of the nation's premier athletic training facilities, is usually a bustling hub of elite athletes. But during the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, only a handful of rehabilitating players were permitted on-site. That meant Syndergaard and Verlander saw each other, in Syndergaard's own words, "a lot."

But that proximity, even when Verlander returned in the fall to rehab from his late September Tommy John surgery, didn't lead to the type of relationship you might expect. 

"Noah and Justin didn't need one another's presence to be motivated to work and get back," explained Schoenberg, who oversaw both Syndergaard and Verlander's rehab process. "But I think maybe it drove each other, to see the other working so hard trying to defy the odds. I'd say there's probably a little bit of that, but a lot of it was unspoken."

What speaks volumes is Syndergaard shouting out Schoenberg and Verlander in his World Series news conference like he did Wednesday. It's clear that the opportunity to square off against Verlander, a figure whom the younger pitcher looks up to, an example that he watched from afar so many days at Cressey, is legitimately meaningful to Syndergaard.

"Justin's a guy that I've looked up to my entire life," the Phillies Game 5 starter said. "And to be able to go toe-to-toe with him again ... the whole opportunity just kind of gives me chills."

The Phillies will hope that, for two or three innings, Syndergaard can put those chills on ice and deliver in the biggest start of his season. After Houston's resounding Game 4 win behind a combined no-hitter, the World Series teeters on the brink. An Astros win in Game 5 would give the American League champs a distinct advantage heading back home. A rebound for the Phillies would put them just one win away from glory.

Verlander, still looking for his first career World Series win in his ninth try, is looking to rebound from a disappointing start in Game 1. Syndergaard, who was originally supposed to pitch Game 3 before rain altered Philly's plans, is expected to go through the Astros order only once. 

It's a fascinating showdown between two pitchers who have been, at one point or another, atop of the pitching world. Sure, Verlander's prolonged run of success puts him in a different hemisphere, but young Syndergaard was a hoss, a guy you didn't want to see 60 feet, 6 inches away.

Their bizarre, winding paths have led them here, to South Philadelphia on a temperate night in November. Schoenberg, who attended Games 1 and 2 in Houston, was invited by both Syndergaard and Verlander to fly out for their Game 5 faceoff. He'll be in attendance Thursday evening.

"There's no logical reason why this is happening. But the fact that they're against each other. In a World Series Game 5, it's just wild."

Jake Mintz, the louder half of @CespedesBBQ is a baseball writer for FOX Sports. He’s an Orioles fan living in New York City, and thus, he leads a lonely existence most Octobers. If he’s not watching baseball, he’s almost certainly riding his bike. Follow him on Twitter @Jake_Mintz.