Santana is stellar in first rehab start

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- It may have been his first start in almost 11 months, but Johan Santana appears to be in midseason form.

The lefthander pitched three scoreless innings in a rehab start for the Mets' Class A St. Lucie affiliate Thursday night.

"I felt good,'' Santana said. "It's my first time actually in a real game where I have to throw all my pitches and actually get a hitter out. But it worked out pretty good. I felt that all my pitches were there. I mean, I was able to throw them without any problems. That's what I'm looking for.

"I was very pleased with the way everything ended up today.''

Santana threw 33 pitches, 26 for strikes, against the Daytona Cubs. He allowed two hits, struck out three and hit a batter.

Despite hitting the second batter of the game, Santana showed outstanding control. Just one of the 11 batters Santana faced had a two-ball count.

"I've been working,'' Santana said. "The last time I faced some hitters I had a simulated game here and I was able to throw my pitches. I think it's getting better and better. I think that's what we're working for. I've been working on all my pitches. When I started my rehab and throwing off the mound, I was working on my mechanics to make sure that my mechanics were there and have my arm adjust to it.''

Santana's previous start was Sept. 2, 2010 against the Atlanta Braves. He had surgery on Sept. 14 to repair a torn anterior capsule in his left shoulder.

Santana began his spring training about two weeks ago. He threw 42 pitches in a simulated game in Port St. Lucie last week, then threw 45 in a bullpen session before the Mets game against the Florida Marlins Sunday in Miami.

Santana was scheduled to throw 45 pitches or three innings Thursday night.

"I was happy to see him be able to go through all three innings and maintain his velocity,'' rehab coordinator Randy Niemann said. "I think there was a little bit of a dip in the last inning, which wasn't a concern. The fact that he came out tonight, I thought he did a decent job.''

Niemann said Santana's fastball was clocked at 89-90, which was a little bit higher than expected.

Both Santana and Niemann said the biggest concern now is how Santana recovers from the start. If all goes well, Niemann said that Santana could start on five days' rest, which would have him pitching as part of a doubleheader against the Jupiter Hammerheads on Aug. 3.

"The big question is, it's more than he did last time,'' Niemann said. "How is he going to recover? That's what this whole process is about. I thought he did a nice job tonight.''

Barring any setbacks, Santana is on track to join the Mets around Aug. 28.

"That's what we're working on,'' Santana said. "As of right now we're just going to go one step at time, build up my arm strength and the pitch counts and I hope that at some point I will join the team. My focus right now is to make sure that every outing is a good one and I'll be able to recover from one step to another. I'm definitely on my way.''