Johan Santana to Make Next Start Against Yankees

After Johan Santana threw a career-high 134 pitches in his no-hitter last Friday, Terry Collins said he might give Santana an extra day off before his next start to recover. Well, he’s getting two.

The Mets announced on Monday that Santana will make his next start against the Yankees Friday night. If Santana stayed on his normal schedule, he would have started Wednesday in Washington. The Mets initially were going to have R.A. Dickey go on three days rest and pitch Wednesday so Santana could go on Thursday. But the Mets decided to give Jeremy Hefner the start on Wednesday, so Dickey will throw on Thursday on normal rest, pushing Santana to Friday.

It’ll be interesting to see what kind of ovation Santana gets in The Bronx when he walks to the mound. With the number of Mets fans likely in attendance and the respect Santana has from all baseball fans, I’m predicting a standing ovation.