Santana Will Be Ready for Opening Day of Season, Mets Manager Collins Says

New York Mets manager Terry Collins said he expects left-hander Johan Santana to be ready for opening day, even if the former Cy Young Award winner isn’t ready to make such a prediction.

“In my mind right now, in my heart, he will be ready,” Collins told reporters yesterday at the Mets’ spring training camp in Port St. Lucie, Florida. “I don’t think there’s any question. He is gearing himself up to be ready.”

Santana, 32, who threw 30 pitches in a bullpen session yesterday, hasn’t pitched in a Major League Baseball game since September 2010 left shoulder surgery. He won the American League Cy Young Award in 2004 and 2006 with the Minnesota Twins, before being traded to the Mets in February 2008.

“I’m approaching everything one day at a time,” Santana told reporters. “I’ve got to get the first (start) out of the way and build my way up -- get my way up to 28, 30 whatever it is.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Rob Gloster in San Francisco at rgloster@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Michael Sillup at msillup@bloomberg.net