PORT ST. LUCIE — Johan Santana said he thinks the elbow tenderness that will force him to delay his first spring-training start is unrelated to the knee surgery he had last October. Santana, who was expected to pitch one inning tomorrow morning against Italy’s WBC representative before complaining of the soreness, is now likely to start next Tuesday here against the Cardinals instead.
The knee surgery forced Santana to get a late start on his offseason program, but he said he didn’t feel it contributed to the elbow issues. The more likely culprit is all the throwing that the Mets’ $137.5 million ace has done on the side since camp started.
“I’ve been throwing bullpens here every other day, and I don’t think I’ve ever done that in the past,” he said. “The reason why is because we wanted to test my knee and make sure everything is fine, throwing every other day off the mound.”
Jerry Manuel said Santana has a history of elbow tenderness early in camp, and Santana agreed.
“I try to keep my elbow loose, but especially early in spring training it takes a little bit of time,” Santana said. “It takes time to adjust to everything and it takes time to get loose, but I don’t think it’s a big deal right now.”
Manuel said of the slight setback in Santana’s spring schedule: “Almost any problem in spring training, they’re not going to pitch. I’m not in a hurry. I don’t have any problem with it.”
The only other question surrounding Santana is the health of his surgically repaired knee.
“My knee is fine,” Santana said. “There’s no problem, but it takes some time to get adjusted to pitching and throwing 100 percent off the mound, so right now I am just taking my time. There is no need to rush. My focus is on April 6.”