Syndergaard started on Opening Day for the Mets in 2017. Against the Atlanta Braves, Syndergaard struck out seven over six innings and got a base hit in a 6–0 Mets victory. He left the game early due to a blister on his middle finger which caused him to get a no decision. On April 30, Syndergaard left the game after experiencing tightness in his right biceps. The next day, on May 1, he was placed on the 10-day disabled list due to a torn lat muscle in his right arm. He was transferred to the 60-day disabled list on May 7.
Syndergaard is a weightlifting enthusiast and is capable of squatting 455 pounds (206 kg) and deadlifting 512 pounds (232 kg). After he shared a photo of himself weight training while dressed as the superhero Thor, due to the similarity between his last name and the fictional location Asgard, he acquired the nickname "Thor". Syndergaard has embraced the nickname; his mother has an Australian Shepherd named Thor and Syndergaard has "Thor" stitched into one of his gloves. Syndergaard has taken to naming all of his gloves after fictional characters. He has previously used gloves named "Drago" (after the Rocky IV character), "Heisenberg" (after the alias of a Breaking Bad character) and "Rick Grimes" (after The Walking Dead character). Syndergaard auctions his gloves off in order to raise money for the Sjögren's Syndrome Foundation, which raises money to fight Sjögren's disease, an autoimmune disease from which his mother suffers. In 2017 the Mets collaborated with Marvel Comics to put out a Noah Syndergaard as Thor bobblehead and held fan giveaways of the souvenir at games at Citi Field during the 2017 and 2018 seasons.
Syndergaard has made several appearances on television shows. In 2017, he made a cameo appearance in "The Spoils of War", a Season 7 episode of Game of Thrones on HBO, in which he played an unnamed Lannister spearman in the episode's climactic battle. Syndergaard appeared in a Season 1 episode of Kevin Can Wait, a sitcom starring Mets fan Kevin James, in which he played a man wearing a viking costume for Halloween. He voiced himself in a baseball-themed episode of the animated series Uncle Grandpa alongside fellow MLB players Chris Archer, Adam Jones, José Altuve, and David Price. He also appeared as himself in a segment of the prank reality program Impractical Jokers featuring Joe Gatto.