The Los Angeles Dodgers have shockingly lost the first two games of their series with the lowly Cincinnati Reds, with another poor Noah Syndergaard start being the culprit this time. Syndergaard threw just three innings and gave up seven hits and six runs.The final blast came on a walk-off home run off the bullpen for Cincinnati, but Syndergaard was brutal and has been placed on the IL with a blister on his finger. That can certainly cause issues, but whether or not it's truly behind a 7.16 ERA remains to be seen.Bob Nightengale@BNightengaleThe #Dodgers put struggling Noah Syndergaard (1-4, 7.16 ERA) on the 15-day injured list with a blister on his finger.18423The #Dodgers put struggling Noah Syndergaard (1-4, 7.16 ERA) on the 15-day injured list with a blister on his finger.MLB fans don't buy it for a second. Syndergaard was a reclamation project for the Dodgers, who wanted to see if they could restore him to his former glory. Thus far, they've been unable to and they may be placing him on the IL just to get a brief respite from the pitcher's starts.HogManJoe@hogmanjoe311@BNightengale The blister is actually on his ego, but MLB would not allow that injury tag. They also tried to use the blistered ERA as a reason, but again MLB declined. a career derailed by injury. A once dominant staff has had a slew of injuries since… Jacob DeGrom, Noah S. Matt Harvey.1@BNightengale The blister is actually on his ego, but MLB would not allow that injury tag. They also tried to use the blistered ERA as a reason, but again MLB declined. a career derailed by injury. A once dominant staff has had a slew of injuries since… Jacob DeGrom, Noah S. Matt Harvey.Rick C@RickC_1013@TalkinBaseball_ Soon he’ll be installing microwave ovens4@TalkinBaseball_ Soon he’ll be installing microwave ovensCharlie H@CharlieH0924@TalkinBaseball_ Noah Syndergaard- 10 day IL: bruised ego. Elly broke this man.19@TalkinBaseball_ Noah Syndergaard- 10 day IL: bruised ego. Elly broke this man.VA Braves@RVaBraves@TalkinBaseball_ I love a good phantom IL move144@TalkinBaseball_ I love a good phantom IL movegarett@TheGodYouFear@TalkinBaseball_ Noah Syndergaard has been placed on the 10-day IL (Ass)102@TalkinBaseball_ Noah Syndergaard has been placed on the 10-day IL (Ass)Dusty Baker@DustyBakerTV@BNightengale After this stint on the IL I’m sure he will have a “reoccurring blister”@BNightengale After this stint on the IL I’m sure he will have a “reoccurring blister”mrdodger1966@mrdodger1966@BNightengale Should have done it before yesterday's game.@BNightengale Should have done it before yesterday's game.DColdest@DColdestt@BNightengale Wow Will Benson ended his career.1@BNightengale Wow Will Benson ended his career.Ryan Rummell@RRUMMELL27@BNightengale Ohhhh so that’s why he’s so bad at baseball. Makes sense@BNightengale Ohhhh so that’s why he’s so bad at baseball. Makes senseNiles Ayer@NilesAyer@BNightengale Fake IL stint1@BNightengale Fake IL stintSyndergaard was once a Cy Young-caliber pitcher, but those days appear to be long gone now. His stint with the Dodgers has been positively dreadful, as his numbers are awful.However, when taking a closer look, the numbers are perhaps not as bad as they seem. As rough as the starts have been, Syndergaard does not have a negative fWAR. He has a 0.0 presently, but at least he hasn't been negative.His xERA of 5.44 is horrible, but it's almost two full runs better than his traditional ERA. His 4.61 xFIP also suggests that he might not be as bad as he has seemed.A blister is probably not causing all these issues, but a brief vacation to recover and potentially work through a couple of issues should do him some good. Will he return to the Noah Syndergaard of old? More than likely not, but he can probably return stronger.Noah Syndergaard will miss a few startsWhether or not it's a legitimate injury or a legitimate reason for an IL stint, this break will force Noah Syndergaard out of the rotation for at least his next two starts.Noah Syndergaard is on the ILWhen he returns, he may or may not be reinserted into the rotation to continue making regular starts.