JUPITER, Fla. — There is no guarantee Johan Santana will regain his place among baseball’s elite pitchers, but yesterday’s performance at least told the Mets it’s possible.
Facing a lineup that included Carlos Beltran, Matt Holliday, David Freese and Lance Berkman, the Mets ace had all of his pitches working and toyed with the Cardinals for six innings at Roger Dean Stadium.
“I’m sure the Mets are pleased,” said Freese, last year’s World Series MVP, after watching Santana allow one run on six hits with six strikeouts and no walks.
Nobody had a tougher time against Santana than Freese. Fooled by a slider in the fourth inning of the Mets’ 2-1 exhibition loss, Freese’s bat went sailing on strike three. In the sixth inning, a Santana changeup sent Freese’s bat into the stands above the third-base dugout.
Four exhibition starts down and two to go for Santana, who remains on track for an Opening Day start at Citi Field, though manager Terry Collins has not made the official pronouncement.
“I felt pretty good,” Santana said. “I knew it was going to be a challenge — they are the world champions — but at the same time I knew I had to do my job and get ahead.
“I knew they were going to be aggressive and they were going to swing. So it was a challenge out there, but I was able to battle through it and throw all my pitches. And then my key was I was able to get ahead in the count and I threw my slider a lot today.”
Collins said yesterday was a giant step for Santana, who threw 69 pitches. In his previous start, against the Tigers, Santana lasted just 2 2/3 innings and allowed five runs.
“For a guy of his stature in this game, who works as hard as he works, and to get to where he is today … nobody has come back from this operation,” Collins said referring to the September 2010 surgery that repaired a torn anterior capsule in Santana’s left shoulder. “We’re certainly hoping he’ll be the exception to that rule. He’s proved that he’s on track to do that.”
The Cardinals’ only real success against Santana came in the sixth, when Tyler Greene and Beltran singled in succession to start the inning. Santana then struck out Holliday and Freese before Berkman delivered an RBI single.
Santana indicated the length of his start was the most significant number.
“It’s not about one inning or that pitch or what they’re doing,” Santana said. “It’s about going deeper into the game and warm up between innings and come back and compete and throw your pitches again with the same consistency from the first one to the last one.”
Santana’s fastball was consistently in the high 80s with pinpoint control. Freese said all of Santana’s pitches were working.
“If he can locate all three of his pitches it’s going to be a tough night for the offense every night,” Freese said.
“I’m rooting for him to get back on track. I think he’s good for this game. I’ve always watched him and been extremely impressed with how he goes about it and how effective he is on the mound. It’s cool to see when aces get on the mound and do what they do.”