New York Mets right-hander Noah Syndergaard took the mound for his second appearance of the season in Sunday afternoon’s season finale against the Atlanta Braves at Truist Park.

Syndergaard wasn’t quite as successful as his first outing, allowing two runs on three hits over one inning in the 5-0 loss. Despite the struggles this time around, the righty said postgame that he was just happy to get back out on the mound and show that he’s healthy.

“I guess that was ultimately the goal from when I had my setback from two or three months ago, just to come back healthy and to showcase that I was healthy going into free agency,” Syndergaard said.

In both his outings, his fastball was sitting around 95-96 MPH and his changeup showed some good movement, however as instructed by doctors he didn’t throw any breaking balls. Syndergaard expects to be fully back to throwing all five of his pitches next season.

“Now that I’ve proven that I was healthy, now it’s time to get back to the old Noah. I think anybody that knows me, knows that nobody’s going to outwork me to get back to where I used to be,” Syndergaard added.

Whether or not that will be in a Mets uniform is still to be determined. Syndergaard said he hasn’t had any contract talks with the Mets yet, but again made it clear that he hopes to be back in orange and blue next season.

“I’m fairly confident that we’ll reach an agreement, and I’ll be pitching here next year. I’d love nothing more than that. New York has a special place in my heart and always will,” Syndergaard told reporters earlier in the week following his first outing.

When asked about his uncertain future again following Sunday’s outing he added, “It’s kind of out of my control right now, but it would definitely be a tough pill to swallow if I’m not wearing a Mets jersey next year.”

Syndergaard recently suggested to reporters that he’d likely accept the one-year qualifying offer if the Mets were to extend it to him, saying he’d be “extremely grateful” and it’s definitely something he’s hoping for. 

The big right-hander allowed just two runs and three hits while striking out a pair over two innings in his return. Over his six-year big league career with the Mets, he has a 3.32 ERA, 1.16 WHIP, and 777 strikeouts.