Johan Santana just completed throwing his first live batting practice session of the spring.

Pitching coach Dan Warthen remarked “nice stuff” after Santana completed his first inning of live BP. Johan threw 22 pitches to Jason Bay, David Wright, Ike Davis and Vinny Rottino.

In his second simulated inning, Santana tossed 21 more pitches (43 total) to Daniel Murphy (who made contact twice), Lucas Duda, Scott Hairston and Rob Johnson.

Santana looked poised, confident and strong, and was very upbeat afterward.

More to come including quotes…

Photos from Mets Twitter.

Original Post 7:00 AM

Mets ace Johan Santana faces another big hurdle today as he prepares to face batters for the first time since pitching in a fall instructional league game last year.

Santana will pitch live batting practice Thursday morning, and the magnitude of this step in his comeback from shoulder surgery is not lost on him or manager Terry Collins.

When asked if he had any apprehensions Santana just smiled and said, “I might be a little nervous when I throw the first pitch, so I hope the first batter doesn’t swing at it”, he joked. “I feel great…I’m ready for this.”

If all goes well today, Santana will toss a light bullpen session on Saturday before his next big test on Tuesday, when he’ll take the mound in a Grapefruit League game against the Cardinals at Digital Domain Park.

Santana hasn’t pitched in a major league game since September 2010, but Terry Collins expects him to be ready to start on Opening Day.

Here are the pitching assignments for the next five days including intrasquad games and the first three Grapefruit League games…

Friday intrasquad 
Dillon Gee
Jeurys Familia
Daniel Herrera
Jeremy Hefner
Matt Harvey
Miguel Batista
Tim Byrdak
Frank Francisco

Saturday intrasquad 
R.A. Dickey
Pedro Beato
D.J. Carrasco
Armando Rodriguez
Chris Schwinden
Josh Stinson
Fernando Cabrera
Robert Carson

Sunday intrasquad
Mike Pelfrey
Ramon Ramirez
Manny Acosta
Chuck James
Jon Niese
Jon Rauch
Bobby Parnell
Garrett Olson

Monday vs. Washington at Port St. Lucie
Dillon Gee
Matt Harvey
Miguel Batista
Daniel Herrera
Tim Byrdak
Frank Francisco

Tuesday vs. St. Louis at Port St. Lucie (split squad) 
Johan Santana
R.A. Dickey
Pedro Beato

Tuesday vs. Houston at Kissimmee (split squad) 
Jeurys Familia
Jeremy Hefner
Josh Stinson