Mets: Noah Syndergaard hard at work for 2018

 Noah Syndergaard has the personality that matches the big city.

It’s lighthearted and fun. If Matt Harvey was all the big bad parts that New York embodied, the Mets’ ace Noah Syndergaard is the party on a Saturday night. He’s had an ongoing “feud” with Mr. Met which everyone seems to find both silly and wildly entertaining. As a comedian, I’ve often said it’s infuriating that he has such a fun Twitter presence, as well as being a stellar athlete on the field.

Not that you should take his jovial personality for granted. I can only imagine it’s an absolute nightmare to have him stare you down in the batter’s box. And to top it all off, blow a fastball by you that’s near impossible to see.

Last season, Syndergaard may have bitten a bit more than he could chew. He put on way more muscle than what would be recommended for a pitcher. And we were all weary of it at the start of the season. But Citi Field was packed Opening Day all the same. The fans singing along to AC / DC’s “Thunderstruck” as Syndergaard warmed up in the bullpen.

And then a few weeks later it all fell apart. The Mets both literally and figuratively lost their thunder for 2017. But Syndergaard hasn’t been shy showing us that he’s hard at work for the season to come:

The lightning at the end of the tunnel

If there’s something, anything, Mets fans have to get excited about this offseason, it’s the thought that Thor will be back in action before we know it. We already saw a little flash of it at the end of the year. And we were so hungry for more, we were complaining that his 1-2-3 first inning wasn’t enough.

Maybe it’s too soon to tell, but even just from some of the images in these tweets, it looks like Syndergaard has slimmed down a bit. He’s back to that leaner muscle and not as top heavy as we saw him on opening day last year.

It’s promising. The Mets are going to need that one-two punch of Syndergaard and Jacob deGrom if they want a shot at competing next year. The NL East is only growing more difficult as time goes by. With deGrom being the only other “sure thing” of an ace on staff right now, they can’t afford to have Syndergaard sidelined with an injury like that again.

Next: Mets 2017 Season in Review: T.J. Rivera

Besides, “Thunderstuck” is just too catchy to not hear blasting through Citi Field every fifth day.