Mets will be careful not to push Santana
Mets pitcher Johan Santana throws in the bullpen. Credit: Johan Santana. (Getty Images)
JUPITER, Fla.
It's only one game. That's what the Mets keep telling themselves when the discussion turns to Johan Santana and Opening Day. But this time, believe it or not, they actually seem to think that way.
Despite tremendous financial pressures, the unnerving possibility of empty seats for Thursday's opener and the feelings of dread that any Santana setback -- real or imagined -- would bring, the Mets insist they won't be taking any leaps of faith with the two-time Cy Young winner.
Maybe on the surface, it sounds like common sense. If Santana needs another week of heat wraps and ice packs to calm down some general spring training soreness, so be it.
But as a turbulent winter now gives way to a rebuilding season, the Mets are not a team that can afford many public relations hits. In that environment, doing the right thing is not always the easiest thing, and these types of injury-related decisions have tripped them up in the past.
The Mets are especially wary of letting that happen with Santana, who hasn't pitched in a major-league game in 18 months. If you remember back to that night in Atlanta on Sept. 2, 2010, Santana initially was diagnosed with a pectoral strain. He wasn't shipped back to New York for an MRI until he broke down in a Wrigley bullpen session days later.
That was under manager Jerry Manuel and general manager Omar Minaya, not Terry Collins and Sandy Alderson. The temptation, however, is not any different now than it was then. Santana's value to the Mets -- from winning games to the team's morale to the overall perception of the franchise -- remains off the charts. That starts again with Opening Day.
"I think it means a lot to a lot of people, even him," Collins said Saturday. "He's worked so hard to get back to be where he's at. But I told him, I'm not going to sacrifice the last two years that he's worked his butt off for one start just to have him pitch Opening Day. So we're going to sit down with a number of people involved and make the correct decision."
Santana's teammates, many of whom are used to being beaten down by the team's recent string of misfortune, have a rooting interest in this as well. As Santana pitched in Saturday's simulated game in the bullpen, R.A. Dickey, Jonathon Niese and Mike Pelfrey watched intently from about 20 feet away.
"We have to be very careful," Santana said. "I'm still building up -- my stamina, my endurance -- so I'm conscious about that."
Obviously, the Mets are a significantly stronger team with Santana, whether he can pitch five innings or eight. And in his teammates' eyes, the sooner he gets out there, the better.
"Because he's shown he's a No. 1," Josh Thole said. "I don't think there' a doubt in anyone's mind that he can do it. Just to have his presence back on the mound, and if that comes in Game 1, that would be huge for us."
After 18 months away, rehabbing in Florida and now on verge of breaking camp, Santana the Cy Young winner still feels more like myth than reality. Alderson has yet to see him pitch in a game that truly matters, but after giving frequent Santana updates last season -- many of them of the disappointing variety -- he's OK with being patient now.
"There's a special meaning to him being available Opening Day," Alderson said. "That would be great. But at the same time, if we get him in the rotation during the first five days, that would be great, too. It's nothing I can control, so it's nothing I get upset about."
That's not entirely true. As general manager, Alderson has plenty of power, and he is the one who can be more pragmatic about injuries in the midst of pressure to act otherwise. The Mets are gradually getting better on that front, which is a reason to be optimistic moving forward whether Santana starts Opening Day or not.
"If there's any discomfort at all, he's not pitching," Collins said. "We'll pick another day. The same thing goes for any of those guys -- David Wright, anyone else. I'm not going to sacrifice two or three days of the beginning of the season to lose a guy for three or four months like we saw last year. We can't recuperate from that."
