Why Johan Santana is being Pushed Back a Day

So the Mets were rained out on Sunday; the game will be made up as a doubleheader on Monday. Dillon Gee was supposed to start Sunday, Johan Santana was supposed to start on Monday. So you’d think Gee and Santana would both pitch on Monday. Well, you’d be wrong.

Miguel Batista will pitch Game 1, with Gee throwing the nightcap. Santana’s start has been pushed back to Tuesday. Does it have anything to do with Santana’s health following that awful outing last Tuesday?

“It’s about the entire staff,” Terry Collins told the Daily News. “We talked all spring long about trying to keep our five starters in sync. (With the rainout and doubleheader) we end up getting them out of sync if we don’t back somebody up.”

Meaning a spot-starter would have been needed later in the week, so Collins figured he would use Batista now rather than later. Makes sense, but for Santana it is an extra day before he can put his performance in Atlanta (lasting just 1.1 innings, allowing six runs, four of them earned) behind him.

“I wanted to pitch the next day after that start, just put it that way,” Santana said.

Santana has yet to go more than five innings in his three starts, which he hopes to change soon.

“I’m still working my way back to go deeper into the games,” he said.” But, at the same time, they want to make sure that everything is fine and I don’t put too much pressure on my shoulder, which is understandable. At the same time, I want to compete. They’re watching from the outside, so they’re able to tell and know when to stop.”