PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- At 6-foot-6, top prospect Noah Syndergaard is not often the undercard. Yet that's exactly what Syndergaard found himself on a gray Friday morning at Mets camp.

Matt Harvey attracted a sizable crowd as he warmed up on a side mound for his first time facing batters since Tommy John surgery. And when Harvey completed his warm-up pitches and headed to a field to throw batting practice, the crowd followed him, leaving Syndergaard to take the same mound that Harvey had occupied in relative solitude.

Harvey, who underwent Tommy John surgery on Oct. 22, 2013, proceeded to throw a total of 40 pitches to teammates, beginning with David Wright at 10:08 a.m., followed by Michael Cuddyer, Curtis Granderson and Daniel Murphy. The batters simply tracked pitches and did not swing.

Adam Rubin/ESPNNewYork.com

Matt Harvey faces batters Friday in Port St. Lucie.Harvey expressed elation afterward and noted the different feel. He previously had been throwing mundane bullpen sessions along a strip of mounds, working alongside other pitchers. He described himself as "in compete mode" and "not holding back" on Friday.

"It was awesome," Harvey said. "Obviously throwing a bullpen on the '10-pack' with nine other guys is a different feeling than facing basically our 'Core Four,' or whatever you call it. You step in the box and you have David in there, it's a good feeling to have that and be back. I couldn't feel better. It was a good day.

"The biggest thing today is getting used to having somebody in there and getting that feel of somebody standing in the box. Obviously them not swinging, you don't quite get all the feel of what you need to work on or exactly what is working at the time and what isn't."

Harvey divided his workload into a pair of 20-pitch simulated innings. After each of those frames, he headed to the first-base sideline, as Syndergaard alternated with his own half-inning. Teammates greeted Harvey with high-fives both times he trotted off the field. The crowd cheered, too, an atypical occurrence at a generally sleepy camp. The large media contingent, which included the ESPN crew putting together an "E:60" special about Harvey to be televised April 4, chronicled Harvey's every move.

Harvey at one point asked Wright to contrast how he looked compared with two spring trainings ago at this point, when Harvey was preparing for what would be a dominant season until he was derailed by the ulnar collateral ligament tear.

"He had great feedback," Harvey said. "He felt it was very similar, if not better, than before. I think [with] the excitement of looking toward a full first season in 2013, I might have been a little more pumped up than I was today. But as far as location and the way things felt, it was pretty successful."

Said Wright: "I just saw a guy that was happy to be back out there. There's only so much you can tell from 20 pitches in February, standing in there just taking pitches. The biggest thing was it looked like the ball was coming out pretty free and easy. You could see the smile on his face from him being happy to be back out there. As a teammate and a friend, I was happy he was able to get back out there."

Terry Collins suggested the true milestone will come next Friday, when Harvey faces the Detroit Tigers in his first game since the elbow surgery.

"Obviously it will be an exciting day finally facing another team," Harvey said. "As far as mentality goes toward that, it's not a playoff game. It's still really working on your pitches. Really paying attention to what guys are swinging at and what guys aren't is the biggest thing. It'll be early March, so we still have a long way to go."

Collins noticed a difference between Harvey's first seven pitches and the final seven pitches of the batting practice session. Although there was no radar gun clocking Harvey's pitches, the manager estimated that Harvey's final pitch, a two-seam fastball, registered 94-95 mph.

After Harvey completed his second 20-pitch frame and again accepted congratulations from teammates, he jogged toward the Mets clubhouse. As Harvey jogged through the outfield, with his back to the spectators who had just watched his session, a photographer zoomed in and caught Harvey with his left hand giving a thumbs-up sign.

"You could tell he was really happy to be out there," said Travis d'Arnaud, who caught the session. "And you could tell all the fans were really excited to see him out there."