Johan Santana reported feeling fine during a weekend bullpen session after leaving Thursday’s start with a strained pectoral muscle, but the Mets have decided to skip his turn in the rotation tomorrow anyway. Dillon Gee will instead make his MLB debut against the Nationals, but Santana made it very clear he could pitch if, say, the Mets weren’t completely out of contention:
I wanted to go out and pitch. I could go, but they said no. If this was a different situation, no question, I’d be pitching. I know what pain feels like--believe me--and this is not even close to what it was back [when he pitched through a knee injury in 2008]. But I understand they want to be very careful. If that’s the right thing to do, then we’ll do it.
Between the Mets’ poor season and his underwhelming 11-9 record Santana’s outstanding performance has generally been overlooked. He’s thrown the fourth-most innings in the league with 199 and ranks 10th with a 2.98 ERA, but has gotten stuck with a no-decision six times while allowing zero or one run.