Freese among those impressed with Santana
Johan Santana throws against the Miami Marlins in the first inning of a spring training baseball game in Port St. Lucie, Fla. (March 11, 2012) Credit: AP
JUPITER, Fla. -- Manager Terry Collins called it "a giant step forward." Johan Santana said it was "a good day overall."
But the most important reaction to Santana's six-inning, one-run outing Wednesday against the Cardinals may have come from St. Louis third baseman David Freese in deed and then word.
The World Series MVP looked silly vs. Santana in the batters' box -- twice striking out on off-speed pitches and losing his bat in the process; the second time Freese flung his club deep into the third-base stands. And then he praised Santana after the Cardinals' 2-1 win at Roger Dean Stadium.
"He looked good," Freese said. "He's not throwing 95, but he's a guy who knows how to pitch. When he makes pitches, he's going to be effective and he's going to win games for sure."
Santana, in his fourth start back from major shoulder surgery, allowed six singles and walked none, striking out six. And these were not a bunch of minor leaguers he was attacking with a fastball in the high 80s, a vintage changeup and a slider in the low 80s.
Five of Santana's strikeouts came against Carlos Beltran, Matt Holliday, Freese and Lance Berkman -- the Cardinals' 2-5 hitters. The other was pitcher Jake Westbrook.
"If he can locate all three of his pitches, it's going to be a tough night for the offense," said Freese, who whiffed on a slider in the fourth inning and a changeup in the sixth. "He was coming in hard, spotting up, getting strikes inner half and then throwing his off-speeds where he wanted it. I'm sure the Mets are pleased."
Collins sure was. Santana was supposed to throw 80 pitches, but he was so economical he needed only 69 to get through six innings. He had thrown 7 1/3 innings combined in his previous three outings.
"To pitch to that lineup the way he pitched, to get up and down and recuperate, it was outstanding," Collins said. "Obviously, we're very optimistic about the way he's worked so hard . . . Right from the start, he's never missed a beat."
Santana also was pleased, though he and the manager both know how he responds in the next few days will be telling.
"We're going to see in the next couple days how it feels," Santana said. "I've got to throw my bullpen and we're going to go from there, but so far, it's been good. The way I feel, the way we have worked from the beginning, everything has been positive. I feel really good, mentally and physically, that I will be there."
It's not just Santana who feels good. Even one of his foes -- the one who struck out twice and looked bad doing it -- said it was "cool" to see Santana pitch well.
"I'm rooting for him to get back on track," Freese said. "I think he's good for this game. I've always watched him and I'm extremely impressed with how he goes about it and how effective he is on the mound. It's cool to see when aces get on the mound and do what they do."
