Miami Marlins ace Jose Fernandez was dominant Monday in his first game action since he underwent Tommy John surgery in 2014.
Pitching in an extended spring training game in Jupiter, Florida, Fernandez hit 97 mph on the radar gun and struck out seven Marlins minor leaguers in three hitless innings, according to the Miami Herald.
"I felt healthy and I felt like I belonged there on that mound. It was fun to go back out there and compete. It was a real game to me -- it wasn't just a rehab start. I was walking out and felt that game feeling inside my stomach. That's always great," Fernandez said, according to the newspaper.
Fernandez threw 42 pitches and struck out the final six batters he faced, according to the newspaper.
The 22-year-old former NL Rookie of the Year is scheduled for his first rehab start Saturday, pitching for the Marlins' Class A Jupiter club.
He will face the Tampa Bay Rays' Port Charlotte team Saturday and then is scheduled to face them again six days later, Wayne Rosenthal, the Marlins' rehab pitching coordinator said, according to the newspaper.
Rosenthal said the Marlins' plan is to "see how these two starts go and then go from there."