It's official: Santana starts Opening Day
Mets pitcher Johan Santana throws a bullpen session in Port St. Lucie, Fla. (Feb. 17, 2012) Credit: AP
PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- Terry Collins already had waited a long time to deliver the good news, and when Sunday morning rolled around, he didn't plan on waiting a minute longer than absolutely necessary.
Collins sent pitching coach Dan Warthen into the clubhouse to find the five members of his rotation. Jonathon Niese and Dillon Gee were in the hot tub when Warthen told them to get into the manager's office.
"Now?" Gee asked.
"Right now," Warthen replied.
Minutes later, with Gee standing there in a towel, Collins told his pitchers the order of the rotation -- and yes, Johan Santana will get the Opening Day start against the Braves at Citi Field.
When Santana takes the mound Thursday afternoon, his 18-month rehabilitation from shoulder surgery will have reached an important milestone, even if the journey has to be completed.
"It means a lot," said Santana, who last started for the Mets on Sept. 2, 2010. "It means that everything we have done, since I've had my surgery all the way to today, has paid off. I'm very happy that I have an opportunity to start the season from Day 1 with the team, and that's something that I really was looking forward to.
"I'm excited about it."
Santana is not the only one. The Mets have eagerly anticipated this day from the moment he arrived in spring training, and Santana passed each test without suffering any setbacks along the way. He made all five of his starts on schedule and finished with a respectable 3.44 ERA.
The final hurdle came Saturday, when Santana had to throw a side session to convince Collins to give him the ball for the opener. After the 32-pitch game simulation, Santana erased any doubt in his own mind.
"When I walked by him," Collins said, "he told me at the end, 'You've got your pitcher for Thursday.' "
All that remained was for the club's decision-makers to talk with Santana on Sunday morning, and after that discussion, he received the go-ahead for the opener.
It will be the sixth Opening Day start for Santana, including the fourth with the Mets, of his 12-year career.
"He's worked very hard and he's been very patient," Collins said. "He's a guy that just loves the game and loves to compete. It's been hard for him. That's why, when I talked to him this winter, the first day we talked about starting, he said, 'I came to New York to be the Opening Day starter, so if I can do it, I'll be there.' "
That's how the Mets had lined it up from the start of the Grapefruit League schedule, but to see the rotation completed -- with Santana at the front -- was a big boost for everyone involved.
"Of course physically you have this expectation when you hear Johan's name," Dickey said. "But just mentally, for all of us, you can take a deep breath. You know you have a stopper out there every fifth day. It takes the pressure off all of us."
Dickey, for one, also is equipped to help the Mets proceed more carefully with Santana's reintegration.
The ceiling on Santana is expected to be roughly 90 pitches, at least for the first few starts, and Dickey's ability to go deeper into games should help the bullpen recover when necessary. "If they want to lean on that," Dickey said, "that's a luxury that I have."
Another luxury, when it comes to Santana, is the number of breaks in the schedule in the first two months of the season. That will allow Santana to have an extra day of rest for six of his first seven turns through the rotation.
Even though he is considered ready for Opening Day, that does not mean he's completely out of the woods in his recovery.
"I believe we still have a little way to go," Santana said, "as far as building everything up, getting more games and getting into the season. That's definitely another step we have to go through.
"But as of right now, where we're at right now, I feel really good. I feel that we have accomplished a lot."
