BALTIMORE — A perturbed Johan Santana fired back today at former Mets pitching coach Rick Peterson for saying Santana’s surgically repaired left knee is contributing to the ace left-hander’s woes.
Santana said his location was the only problem he experienced while surrendering a career-high nine runs in a 15-0 loss to the Yankees on Sunday.
Santana was responding to a Monday radio interview by Peterson, who told ESPN 1050 that the knee is behind Santana’s 6.50 ERA over his past six starts.
“How did he know that my knee hurts?” Santana said before the Mets played the Orioles. “That’s the question that I have. You guys tell me how did he find that out? Because it is crazy. Not even the trainers know. Not even me. I didn’t know my knee hurts. Just put it that way.”
Santana appeared surprised because he described his relationship with Peterson as a good one before Peterson was fired on this date last year.
“The reality is, he’s not here,” Santana said. “I’m the one who feels my body better than anybody. My knee doesn’t hurt, and I don’t know where he get that one from. But I’m being honest and realistic. My knee is the last issue here. I think we take care of that last year, and it has nothing to do with what’s going on right now.”
Told Peterson couched his remarks as a “rumor,” Santana smiled.
“A rumor is a rumor,” he said. “Where did he get that rumor from? If you get the source, I would say it’s a pretty good one. But the only source that he can get right now would be me, because not even the trainers or the manager or Dan Warthen, who is my pitching coach right now, knows anything about my knee.
“We have been working on mechanics and some other stuff, but nothing with the knee. Not at all.”
Santana said he was troubled a month ago by a blister and split fingernail on his left middle finger that briefly made him alter the grip on his fastball, but those injuries have healed.
His attention is directed toward a bullpen session Wednesday.
“Just work on my mechanics and try to locate the pitches better. That’s what I have to focus on. The last couple of games, we’re missing the location of the pitches,” he said.
Getting yanked in the middle of a lopsided game at Yankee Stadium, however, is a memory Santana would prefer not to repeat anytime soon.
“Last game was just a terrible game. I didn’t execute it the way I was supposed to execute it. … This is one game, we’ll learn from it. We’ll put it in the past and move on.” Santana said.
Jerry Manuel said he doesn’t believe there will be any lingering effects.
“I think Johan is just like anybody else — going through a little period of struggle,” Manuel said. “He’ll get through it, just like he’s always done. That’s a part of the game that happens to everybody at some point in time, and he’ll overcome it.”
With AP