Noah Syndergaard's Latest Comments on His Slider Means Opposing Hitters Are in Big Trouble in 2020

Despite the influx of dysfunctionally-oriented news in recent weeks, the New York Mets are focused on Spring Training, and they're expected to contend for the NL East crown in the upcoming campaign.

New York's biggest strength, as usual, is their starting pitching. But behind Jacob deGrom, there wasn't much consistency in 2019. When meeting with the media on Tuesday, however, Noah Syndergaard eased the minds of Mets fans in discussing the state of his slider.

In a word, it's back.

"I feel like the start of last season kind of showed glimpses of what it was in the past. ... I think there were a couple in the 93 (mph) range, so that was encouraging to end the season on," Syndergaard said, via SNY. "There's been a few mound sessions (in Spring Training) where I've started implementing the slider, and it seems to be back to where it was in previous years."

That's got to be music to Mets fans' ears.

Thor's go-to pitch for so long has been that slider, which developed a reputation fo giving opposing hitters fits. But in 2019, Syndergaard had difficulty having the same success with it, as it dropped down to an uncharacteristic 89 mph and lost its luster as an out pitch.

While the velocity drop is a main culprit, the other contributing factor was a lack of chemistry with then-new catcher Wilson Ramos. Although the two had issues last season, new manager Luis Rojas told Syndergaard that the two will be paired together throughout Spring Training and work on their rapport.

Syndergaard looks to improve upon his 4.28 ERA and 1.23 WHIP from 2019, and with his newly resurrected slider, he's well on his way.