Adam Rubin of ESPN New York, reported on Thursday that Johan Santana began throwing off the mound this week for the first time since he had surgery to repair his left shoulder.
Santana threw 15 pitches off the slope of the mound, but not from the rubber, that will come next.
It’s a huge step forward for Johan, and a sure sign that things are really progressing well during his rehab.
Santana has been throwing off of flat ground since February, and the Mets are still aiming for a July return.
Original Post 5/1
According to Adam Rubin of ESPN New York, Johan Santana is still throwing from flat ground in Port St. Lucie.
Rubin says that after the Mets broke camp, Santana said that he needed to be throwing from 180 feet in order for his rehab to progress, and allow him to step on the pitchers mound and begin throwing from there. Apparently, he’s still not there yet, but he is throwing from over 100 feet.
This was what Santana said after the Mets broke camp.
“What I know as of right now is they want me to go all the way to 180 feet and then get on the mound. But getting on the mound doesn’t mean that you’re going to be throwing all of your stuff or facing hitters or anything. It’s just to get the feeling for it. And then you go back and long-toss. And then later you get into that, I would say, spring-training mode where you are building everything up and you start pitching.”
I am not a mind-reader or anything, but from the looks of this Johan’s rehab has cetrtainly slowed down to a snail’s pace.
I wonder if he will be able to get on the mound to throw next month or more importantly if he is still on target for that late-June to early-July return that was reported during Spring Training.
Lets hope not.
