Johan Santana's work schedule has been moved up rather dramatically, making the chances of his...

Johan Santana's work schedule has been moved up rather dramatically, making the chances of his starting on Opening Day significantly better.

Santana is to throw batting practice on Saturday before the Mets' game against Washington at Tradition Field.

The original plan was for him to throw three bullpen sessions before his first batting practice outing. He threw one bullpen, so now he should be at least six days ahead of his original schedule, by which he would not have made a start in an exhibition game until March 18, leaving merely 18 days between that game and the Mets' first game, against the Reds in Cincinnati on April 6.

Mets.com: Santana's schedule moved up

8 months ago Eric Simon 4 comments 0 recs |

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Let me make sure I understand this

Our ace has stiffness/tightness/pain/something above his pitching elbow due to overworking himself to try and come back earlier from knee surgery…so the remedy is to overwork him so that he can come back earlier?

by Gina on Mar 6, 2009 12:58 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Not sure what is going on here

but I agree with you Gina, something doesn’t smell right.

by Endys Game on Mar 6, 2009 2:00 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Interesting theory.

So my dad and I were discussing this the other day and he proposed an interesting theory about this whole Santana-injury fiasco. My dad thinks it’s all a put-on by Johan and Warthen to take the pressure off of him to play in the WBC.

The WBC may not be a big deal to the USA, but it’s a pretty big deal elsewhere, and Johan may have been taking some heat from his countrymen for not playing. If news comes out that his elbow is “sore” then they really can’t say anything. So the Mets go along with it b/c he is their Ace pitcher, they announce the MRI and everything. Then, magically, Johan’s elbow feels better and he throws a bullpen session before flying out for the MRI and announces that he is a-ok.

To any rational human being, the simple fact that Johan would throw a pair of socks, nevermind a bullpen session, before flying out to have an MRI borders on madness. When I heard he was deemed fine after his bullpen session, I was initially happy. Then, I said to myself, “Wait, why the heck was he throwing a BP session before having an MRI on a sore elbow?” It just didn’t make sense.

Didn’t mean to get all Mel Gibson in Conspiracy Theory on you there, but right now it’s the only explanation that makes sense. Well, other than the Mets having an awful track record of handling injuries (see Beltran in ’05 and Church in ’08 as the most notable examples.)

by SQUAD on Mar 6, 2009 5:53 PM EST reply actions 0 recs