Santana will start Opening Day
4. METS
MANAGER: Terry Collins, second season, 77-85, .475 (overall 521-519, .501).
GM: Sandy Alderson
STADIUM: Citi Field (41,800)
OUTLOOK: Good news off the field, with the Wilpons and Saul Katz settling the lawsuit by Madoff trustee Irving Picard, has been tempered by a slew of injuries on the field. But LHP Johan Santana has looked good.
CONCERN: The lack of roster depth makes the whole operation a house of cards.
BOTTOM LINE: Like last year, they’ll probably get the most of what they have. They don’t have much, though.
Credit: Getty Images
PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. – Terry Collins didn’t waste any time delivering the good news. Shortly after 8 a.m. Sunday, the manager summoned all of the Mets’ five starters to his office and told them the order of the rotation.
And yes, the No. 1 will be Johan Santana.
“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.”
Santana showed this spring that he is indeed up to the task.
“It means a lot,” Santana said. “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 will face the Braves on Opening Day at Citi Field, followed by R.A. Dickey and Jonathon Niese for the remainder of that series. Mike Pelfrey and Dillon Gee, respectively, round out the rotation.
“I like our rotation,” Collins said. “We got guys, as they showed last year, when they take the mound, they compete. One thing we got to do is help them out. We’ve got to catch the baseball behind them. These are guys that pound the strike zone, so we know the ball is going to get hit, so we’ve got to catch it.”
