PORT ST. LUCIE — It was Feb. 21 when Mets manager Terry Collins first said he expected Johan Santana to be healthy for Opening Day.
And while that may have seemed unrealistic, nothing Collins has seen in Santana’s two starts this spring has made the manager change his mind.
When asked after Santana gave up two hits and an unearned run in 2 2/3 innings in a 4-2 rain-shortened loss to the Marlins yesterday if there were doubt the lefty would be ready for the season-opener next month, Collins said: “Not for me. I truly believe we’re going to do this right and Johan Santana will be on this team Opening Day.”
Santana was also encouraged about yesterday’s outing, but not ready to make the same proclamation as his manager.
“We’ll see,” Santana said. “I think right now, that’s a little bit premature. We’re still building up pitches. When we’re at 80-90 pitches and doing it every five days, that’s when we we’ll say we’re good. … If I’m ready for it, I’ll be out there. That’s definitely something I’m looking forward to.”
He was pleased with what he was able to do yesterday.
“I was able to throw more breaking balls and change-ups,” said Santana, whose fastball hit 90 mph once, but typically sat in the 86-88 mph range. His change-up dipped into the mid-70s. “I felt really good.”
Santana was also able to include some sliders into his repertoire, but he was even more pleased with how his arm recovered after his last start.
“Now we’re on schedule,” said Santana. “We’ll see what’s going on to get ready for the season.”
His next step is scheduled for Friday, when he would face the Tigers in Port St. Lucie. He will likely throw about 65 pitches.
Santana almost didn’t make yesterday’s start, since rain was forecast, but the sky cleared shortly before game time.
“I was a little concerned when it started raining,” Collins said. “That bothered me. I wasn’t going to have him go through his pregame ritual and then back away for 35 minutes.”
If it were raining when the game was scheduled to start, Santana would have been scratched and thrown inside. When it started to rain in the third, Santana was yanked.
“If he had stayed in the game and slipped on the mound, someone else would be standing here right now,” Collins said with a laugh, but he probably wasn’t far off.
Santana ended up throwing 42 pitches, 22 for strikes, before leaving after a four-pitch walk to Hanley Ramirez to load the bases on a sloppy field.
“I thought his stuff was sharper,” said Josh Thole, who has caught both of Santana’s starts. “I can’t speak for everybody, but I think as a unit it would be nice to see him out there Opening Day. If you had asked me that three weeks ago I would have told you that. He’s a gamer.”
Collins said Santana has enough to start the regular season, if the arm strength remains.
“There’s absolutely nothing else,” Collins said. “What I’m seeing now is a guy starting to get comfortable on the mound. … He felt great when he came out of the game.”
For Santana, though, it was just another step.
“Every time out there, I’m a day closer to coming back,” Santana said. “And that’s good.”