Pete Alonso needed assistance from the New York Mets’ training staff after taking a ball to the face at spring training, but he returned to the practice field soon after.

According to Alonso, he never wanted to go anywhere else. “For me, this was it,” Alonso said. “I mean, throughout the entire off-season, we had the best dialogue from the Mets. And, like, that was it. For us, this was the best opportunity. And for me, I’m just really happy to be back.”