Johan Santana-Stephen Strasburg matchup on historic day
Johan Santana #57 of the New York Mets pitches against the Atlanta Braves. (April 5, 2012) Credit: Jim McIsaac
Wednesday at Citi Field, the Mets celebrate the 50th anniversary of the first game in franchise history, but instead of displaying the ineptitude for which that original team was famous, they are offering a marquee pitching matchup between Johan Santana and Washington starter Stephen Strasburg.
Santana is closer to the end of his career while Strasburg has barely scratched the surface of his, but the Mets veteran can relate to the Nationals prodigy because both are coming back from career-threatening surgery. Santana, who threw five scoreless innings in the season opener, missed all of last season after undergoing shoulder surgery, and Strasburg (0-0, 1.29) recovered from right elbow surgery on Sept. 3, 2010 in time to make five starts last September, going 1-1 with a 1.50 ERA.
"Injuries are not easy, especially when it happens to a pitcher and to a young guy," Santana said Tuesday. "There's a lot you have to go through, and he put everything behind him and he's back."
Strasburg will be making his first appearance in New York, and Santana is looking forward to it as much as the fans. "He's got great stuff," Santana said. "I'm happy for him that he's back and doing all his things. It's good for baseball. I saw him a couple times. I think one time he faced us in Washington. I watched him a couple times on TV. He's a pretty good guy, pretty good stuff.
"It's always good for baseball when you have a matchup like that. I'm still working my way back. It's going to be a good one, and I'm looking forward to it."
Because of the fragile state of their recovery process, both pitchers are being closely watched by their training staffs. Strasburg has been told he will be limited to 160 innings at most this season. The Mets have Santana on a pitch count. He got through 83 pitches in the opener and was lifted even though he said he could go another inning. Mets manager Terry Collins said Santana will be limited to about 95 pitches against the Nationals.
The possibility of showers might affect how Collins uses Santana, but he said he expects him to warm up and start the game. A rain delay could cause problems, but Santana is coming into the game on an extra day's rest because of the day off on the schedule between the opener and second game. Santana said his arm feels good and he's working to go deeper in the game.
"That's what I focus on," Santana said. "I think the whole environment, the atmosphere, will be good. At the same time, I cannot go away from what I have to do, which is pitching and making sure everything is fine."
