When will We See Johan Santana?

A day after Terry Collins said that Johan Santana would not be flying North with the Mets, the lefty himself said that his surgically repaired shoulder is in pretty bad shape.

“The shoulder is not feeling good or it’s just not strong,” he said on Saturday.

Santana went on to say that he cannot predict when he would arrive at Citi Field.

“I don’t know when I am going to be pitching again. That’s the thing, we cannot think ahead. Every day we make sure we have a good day so tomorrow we come back and do it again until we can do it without any problems.”

Santana’s workouts include long tossing from around 90 feet, and the Daily News reports that before he even attempts to throw from a mound, Santana’s long tossing distance would have to double. That apparently is not happening anytime soon.

“It’s all about intensity, you only get the intensity when you are pitching, when you get on the mound. Right now I am just building up and go one day at a time,” Santana said. “It is slower, but I am making progress.”

I think most Mets fans are puzzled by Johan Santana’s spring. He came back so strongly over the first half of last season, then twisted his ankle and had his shoulder betray him, leading him to be shut down in August. That was not so unexpected — after all, he was still recuperating from surgery.

But I believe we all thought that after an off season of rest, Santana would return to normal; perhaps not to the dominant starter who won two Cy Young awards, but at least to the pitcher we saw before the no-hitter. Instead, Santana has regressed.

This shows just how remarkable Santana’s first half performance truly was — he was apparently pitching with a still damaged shoulder. That he was able to achieve what he did was extraordinary.

The situation is sad. This will obviously be Johan Santana’s last season with the Mets. I think we all wanted to see him to go out on a high note. Now, it wouldn’t shock anyone if we do not even see him at all.