Update 3:00 PM – Adam Rubin reports that Johan Santana may not appear in a Grapefruit League game for at least two weeks because of elbow tightness, and the ace wouldn’t rule out missing an Opening Day start in Cincinnati on April 6.
Original Post 10:17 AM – Newwsday is reporting that Johan Santana met with GM Omar Minaya and manager Jerry Manuel for 40 minutes this morning about the best way to handle his elbow tightness. The bottom line is that Santana is officially in limbo and his Opening Day start (April 6) could be in jeopardy as well.
Here’s the plan for now: Santana will throw a light bullpen session on Sunday to see how the elbow responds, and if he feels OK the following day, he still will need another two or three live BP sessions before he can make a Grapefruit League start. That means if everything goes perfectly — perfectly — he could actually face another team at some point during the week of March 9.
As for the worst-case scenario, Santana throws on Sunday, still feels the elbow and the Mets finally decide to send him back to New York for tests. Santana said minutes ago that the elbow still is tight — he’s been told it’s the triceps tendon behind the elbow — and he is considering the possibility that Opening Day might now be questionable for him.
“We have 162 games,” Santana said. “What we have to accomplish takes 162 games. Everything starts April 6, if it’s going to be me or somebody else. It’s tough to say right now.”
Now I’m really starting to worry… The Mets are the most notorious team in baseball for downplaying injuries or misreporting the true extent of injuries to their players.
