The Mets ace hasn't thrown a bullpen session since March 3, is struggling to return from his latest injury, imflamation in his back, which he suffered last summer, and as a result will start the season on the disabled list.
Santana was never the same after a 136 pitch performance in a no-hitter on June 2, the first in Mets history. After that no-no, Santana struggled the rest of the way until the injury was disclosed. Manager Terry Collins, even blamed himself at the time for the injury, because he let Santana throw so many pitches.Collins wouldn't call Santana's DL stint a set back in his return: "It's hard to say it was a setback," Collins said. "I just think he wanted to prove his arm was OK, that his arm was healthy. Now we need to get him ready to pitch. I told him, `I don't care about yesterday, I care about now. We've got to move forward here. What happened six weeks ago has absolutely no bearing on what we need to do moving forward."
It is not surprising that Santana will start the years on the shelf. Not only has he not lifted a baseball this season, he has watched the Mets' younger pitchers step it up. Jon Niese will get the nod on Opening Day, April 1 against the San Diego Padres. Meanwhile, Matt Harvey is having a big camp and is making a case to be the future ace of this franchise moving forward.
For Santana and the Mets, the former Cy Young winner needs to get back onto the mound. This is the final year of Santana's contract, and the lefty needs to prove that he is back to form if the Mets are able to trade him for prospects come July.
This season provides plenty of incentives for Santana if he wants to end up on a winner come August and September he is going to have to get back as soon as he can. If Santana can come back from this DL stint and win 8 or 9 games and look good doing it, he can find himself in a pennant race.
While the Mets and Santana are ready to part ways, they need each other for the interim.
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