It’s time once again for Johan Santana watch. Buckle up, Birdland.
The two-time Cy Young Award winner threw 27 pitches in two innings at extended spring training on on Monday. He allowed one hit and struck out four.
According to MASNSports.com’s Roch Kubatko, Santana’s fastball is up to 87-89 miles per hour. That’s incredibly encouraging. Santana’s average velocity in 2012 was 88.4 MPH, his average over his last five seasons was 90.3.
He’ll pitch again on Saturday. The Baltimore Sun’s Eduardo Encina reports that it’ll be a three inning outing:
Showalter said the organization still isn’t to the point of discussing Santana returning to minor league games, but his recovery from a second shoulder surgery in three years continues to be encouraging.
“I think it’s still a little early, but he’s had no setbacks. His velocity is inching up. I’m really looking forward to getting my eyes on him, seeing the arm swing. When you’ve seen a guy for years, you kind of know what it looks like. I think I’ll probably watch some tape of him before I go over there when he was right to get a visual.”
Santana said during the spring that he hopes to contribute in the Orioles starting rotation, which currently ranks 23rd in ERA (4.45).
Image Credit: slgckgc
He’s going to make a nice mid-season “acquisition”.
Dare we dream!? I say YES!