Not that it should come as a surprise to anyone who has paid attention over the past 17 months, but Pete Alonso is as excited as anyone for the return of major league baseball.

But he also understands that things are just starting now for a couple of reasons — both the deadly virus that disrupted life as we know it and the thousands of health professionals whose work has allowed for this moment to be possible.

Alonso announced on Thursday that his Homers for Heroes foundation, which he launched in April, will honor a healthcare worker for each of the 60 games this season. “60 heroes for 60 games,” he called it.

“We’re going to be recognizing the hero, naming the hero, explaining their story, bringing their story to light,” Alonso said. “There’s been some absolutely tremendous work from people from all different types of communities around the country.”

Each of Alonso’s heroes will receive recognition and a care package of memorabilia sent to them.

“If I hit a home run maybe a home run ball,” he said.

If his rookie season was any indication, there will be plenty of home run baseballs for Alonso to hand out. Though he won’t come close to the 53 he hit a year ago with about a third of the games, he’s primed to offer similar production scaled to the opportunities he’ll have.

But Alonso will be the first to put the team over himself. In the sprint that will be the 60-game season, that has never been more important.

“I believe so,” he said when asked if the Mets are the team to beat in the NL East. “I think we have an extremely dynamic lineup… There’s no easy out.”

“We also have a great pitching staff,” he continued. “I think we’ve got the pieces to do it.”

There will be plenty of emotion this season as well. Without fans in the seats, Alonso and his teammates, who fed off the Citi Field electricity in 2019, will have to create the atmosphere themselves.

Their first experience with the new normal came last weekend in two exhibitions against the New York Yankees.

“It felt exactly like playing in the Florida State League,” said Alonso, who spent 82 games there with the St. Lucie Mets in 2017. “You could probably count the number of fans on your hands at a Florida State League game.”

But a  lack of in-person faces doesn’t mean an absence of them. “We know that Mets Nation is watching at home,” Alonso said.