ST. PETERSBURG -- Over the past few seasons, the Dodgers have gone into free agency keeping their options open for finding upside on the market.

In 2022, that strategy worked to perfection. Tyler Anderson had a breakout season and turned it into a three-year deal with the Angels this offseason. Andrew Heaney also had solid outings when healthy, and he signed a two-year deal with the Rangers. For Heaney, Anderson and the Dodgers, the signings turned beneficial for both sides.

This year, Los Angeles tried the same approach with Noah Syndergaard, signing him to a one-year deal worth $13 million. Syndergaard had even more success than Heaney or Anderson before injuries derailed his career.

Through 11 starts, however, the signing hasn’t produced good results. Syndergaard struggled once again in the Dodgers’ 9-3 loss to the Rays on Friday night at Tropicana Field, allowing six runs over six innings of work.

“Just not a lot of positive emotion right now when I think about pitching, in particular,” Syndergaard said. “It’s just hard going out there with the weapons you used to have kind of being taken away from you, and throwing what I’m possessing right now is not enough to successfully battle a team like that. But [I’ll] just continue to work my butt off in between starts to snap out of this.”

Syndergaard, of course, is talking about the 100 mph four-seam fastball he used to throw during his first five seasons with the Mets, a time that saw him become one of the most dominant young pitchers in the game. But as injuries piled up, Syndergaard lost the ability to throw hard; he’s now averaging about 92.4 mph. And the right-hander continues to chase his old velocity, which perhaps has been detrimental to his overall performance.

Syndergaard has tried different methods, including hypnosis, to try to get back to the pitcher he once was. Instead, Syndergaard’s 6.27 ERA is the third worst in the Majors among pitchers with at least 11 starts.

“I think everyone around here knows I’m the most determined person to get back to where I used to be,” Syndergaard said. “I just haven’t been the same since I had my setback when I was coming back from Tommy John [in March 2020]. Still working through that and just maintain positivity and come in ready to work.”

While Syndergaard “knows for a fact there’s still more in there,” the Dodgers will have to start balancing allowing him to figure things out on the fly while weighing the overall production, which has been poor so far.

At this moment, the Dodgers can’t afford to remove Syndergaard from the starting rotation because of their mounting injuries. Julio Urías (left hamstring strain) will be out for at least one more week, and Dustin May (right forearm strain) is out until after the All-Star break. Ryan Pepiot (left oblique strain) is still not throwing off a mound, ruling him out for at least two more months. Michael Grove (right groin strain) has started his rehab and is one more start away from being a potential option.

The development and production of young pitchers Bobby Miller and Gavin Stone will also determine just how long the Dodgers stick with Syndergaard in their rotation.

“I think right now where we’re at, I wouldn’t say that we have an internal option right now,” said Dodgers manager Dave Roberts. “As we kind of look out and we keep going, we have some other options down the road. But I think right now, we’ve got to continue to run him out there and expect better results.”

Those results weren’t good against the Rays, who own the best record in baseball at 38-15. Tampa Bay scored five runs through the first three innings off Syndergaard and just missed a few more homers. To Syndergaard’s credit, he did get through six innings, giving the Dodgers’ bullpen a boost for the next two games. 

But at this point in the season, it might no longer be practical to continue to look for silver linings every time Syndergaard steps on the mound. Syndergaard needs to find results in order to stay in the rotation, and he knows it. 

“I wouldn’t say confidence is lost long term. I think short term it is,” Syndergaard said. “But I think if I just focus on getting 1 percent better each time, I think soon we’ll be in pretty good shape.”