PORT ST. LUCIE — Johan Santana got his first taste of life as a cheerleader yesterday.
The Mets ace was on the field for the first mandatory spring training workouts for pitchers and catchers, but only as a spectator. He is still more than two months away from taking to a pitcher’s mound as he recovers from surgery to repair a torn labrum in his left shoulder.
According to a timetable unveiled by general manager Sandy Alderson, the left-hander won’t begin pitching activities until early May then will need another 6-to-8 weeks before he can join the team. Santana has been playing catch on alternate days for the last two weeks.
“It’s the shoulder that is going to lead the process — not the doctor and not the front office,” Alderson said.
It will mark the Mets’ longest stretch without Santana since they acquired him following the 2007 season. The lefty still has three years remaining on the $137.5 million contract he signed after arriving in a trade from the Twins.
Santana said he is confident he can return to his previous form.
“I’m a competitor, and every time the situation is out there I’m going to go out there and battle,” Santana said. “I’ve just got to be patient and do everything one step at a time.”
Santana noted that Yankees catcher Jorge Posada had similar surgery in 2008 and returned to full-time catching, but that is also quite a difference from the precision and arm strength needed to throw 100 pitches every fifth day.
“It’s a rare type of injury that you don’t see very often,” Santana said. “But at the same time from the medical part, just for them to say everything was a success means a lot.”
Manager Terry Collins met with Santana on Wednesday and had a simple request: Just be present for the first workout to remind everyone he is part of the club. Santana was happy to comply.
“I was very thrilled to have him out there,” Collins said. “It showed everyone else on the team what being a professional is all about.”
Collins said Santana expressed concern during their Wednesday meeting that he would be a distraction for the team. But the manager quelled those fears.
“He’s as big a professional guy as I’ve been on a team with,” Collins said. “He said, ‘I won’t be in the way, I don’t want to be a distraction. I don’t want this to be about me. I’m going to be ready when I’m ready. I’m going to be faster than people think, but I don’t want to be a distraction.’ I in turn said, ‘You are the farthest thing from a distraction, you are one of the leaders on this team.’ ”
Alderson mentioned early July as a possible target for Santana’s return, but Collins is thinking in terms of June.
“We’re going to look forward to getting him back,” Collins said. “That’s why June, I thought, is going to be a pretty big month for us. I told the pitchers . . . that we’ve got to battle. If we stay in it, look who we are getting in June, for heaven’s sake. Other teams can’t say that.”
With Santana sidelined, the Mets will count on Mike Pelfrey as the interim ace.
“[Pelfrey] knows how to pitch and he wants to help and lead this team; that is a great thing,” Santana said. “He’s in a great position. When I come back we’ll be a better team.”