Terry Collins spoke with reporters before the game and said that Johan Santana will pitch in a simulated game this Sunday in Fort Myers.
According to a report on ESPN, Collins also added that he does not believe Santana will pitch for the Mets before the end of the season.
No matter how the Mets spin this, it’s far cry from all the expectations they raised in the Winter and again in the Spring and still in May, that Johan Santana would be back sometime in July.
The strange thing about it is that while the Mets ace has essentially missed the entire 2011 season, not once has the team referred to any of Santana’s setbacks as setbacks. It’s kind of a sly move in how they did this without any real heat from the media or fan base.
Could you imagine if that other guy was still the GM?
Anyway, Johan Santana will now aim for Opening Day.
Santana has spent every offseason since signing with the Mets, rehabbing from some sort of surgery. He missed six starts in 2009, ten starts in 2010, and the entire season in 2012.
He is still owed $49.5 million for 2012 and 2013, and the Mets have a team option for 2014 in the amount of $25 million dollars with a $5.5 million dollar buyout. Essentially, the Mets owe Johan an average of $27.25 million dollars over the next two seasons.
Original Post 9/12
According to the NY Post, the Mets are trying to figure out Johan Santana’s next step in his comeback, but the possibility of his pitching in the majors this season is slipping.
“Right now, we have no plans of seeing him here, except to get some work in,” manager Terry Collins said yesterday.
On Friday night, Johan Santana made his third minor league rehab start as he tries to come back from surgery nearly a year ago to the day to repair a tear of the anterior capsule in his left shoulder.
Santana threw 39 pitches – 27 for strikes – in three innings of two-hit ball for Class A Savannah, allowing an unearned run, striking out one and walking one. He was scheduled to throw approximately 45 pitches.
Santana will make his next rehab start on Thursday for Class A Savannah, which has advanced to the South Atlantic League’s championship series. He is scheduled to start Game 3 of their best-of-five series against Greensboro and throw a maximum of four innings.
Collins, believes that when healthy, Santana can and will be an ace once again.
