The New York Mets are out of contention for a spot in the 2021 MLB postseason, but that did not stop them from rolling the red carpet for the highly anticipated return of Noah Syndergaard on Tuesday against the Miami Marlins at home.

Syndergaard started and tossed just 10 pitches before exiting the mound, but that brief moment on the hill meant so much for the 29-year-old Mets righty. That was the first time he pitched in the majors since September 2019, as he took quite a long time to recover from a Tommy John surgery in March 2020.

After the Mets' 2-1 win over Miami, Syndergaard spoke about his true feelings about finally being able to pitch again, per Joe Pantorno of amny.com.

“It was a crazy journey,” Syndergaard said. “It was like Murphy’s Law. Anything that could have happened did happen.”

“When I was walking out of the dugout, hearing the fans, I almost had to shed a little tear,” Syndergaard said. “I’m not really an emotional guy, but it definitely got to me.”

“It just seemed like things were up against me and I wasn’t going to make it back this year. Just to get back ou there and compete, even if it was for one inning, felt amazing.”

Syndergaard looked sharp in his return. Of the 10 pitches he threw, nine went for strikes, fanning two batters and issuing zero free passes. The Mets, who are third in the NL West standings with a 75-82 record, will look to beat the Marlins again Wednesday night before the series finale on Thursday.

Syndergaard is due to become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the 2021 MLB season. It's intriguing to see what kind of interest he would get in free agency down the road, or if the Mets would offer him a new contract.