Mets Spring Into Action: Santana, Maine Ready To Go

Despite not officially starting until this Friday, the sounds of Spring Training filled the air at Tradition Field in Port St. Lucie. Gloves were popping as players, coaches and fans alike, gathered to see Johan Santana and John Maine pitch. Both are coming off surgery and everyone was eager to see how they were.

The NY Post gives us some info on both of their throwing sessions.

John Maine, who is coming back from surgery to fix a bone spur in his right shoulder, threw off the mound here for the second time in four days and said he is pitching without pain. That is in sharp contrast to last season, when Maine said he couldn’t even throw between starts because of the soreness. The spur wasn’t removed, Maine added, but rather shaved down instead. “I feel a lot, lot better,” Maine said.

As expected, Johan Santana threw off the mound here this morning for the first time since knee surgery last October. Santana tossed 18 pitches under the supervision of bullpen coach Randy Niemann and conditioning coach Guy Conti, then pronounced himself ready to throw a full bullpen session on Thursday.

The Mets have a lot riding on Maine and Santana, and today they announced that Johan would not be playing in the World Baseball Classic.