Mets ace Johan Santana set for bullpen session

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. (AP) — New York Mets left-hander Johan Santana is ready for his first big test this spring.

A few days before training camp opens, Santana is scheduled to throw a bullpen session on a back field Friday morning.

This will be the first time the two-time Cy Young Award winner has thrown off a mound since pitching four innings in an instructional league game on Sept. 30. Santana had surgery on his left shoulder in September 2010 has not pitched in a major league game since then.

"It's just another step," Santana said Thursday. "I've been through this in the past and I've been working for, like, two months throwing and getting back. Tomorrow, getting back on the mound and getting a feel for the mound, it's going to be fun for me. But at the same time, it's just part of my job because that's what I do prior to spring training."

The 32-year-old ace played catch with pitching coach Dan Warthen and did some fielding drills Thursday.

"Any time he puts a ball in his hand and he starts throwing, it's a big day," Warthen said. "I don't know how excited he is, but I certainly am. He's going to walk on the mound and throw. I think that's pretty exciting."

Warthen said Santana looks "better than even the last couple months I saw him in the 2010 season." Warthen said he is looking for Santana to maintain his arm slot and stay on top of the ball during Friday's session.

Warthen recalled long tossing with Santana in Miami late last season and how the ball would drop off the final 20 feet or so.

"(Wednesday) he was at 100 feet and that ball would get maybe 20 feet out where it used to die, it took off or stayed on that same plane," Warthen said. "You could tell that he was finishing the baseball, he was getting full extension through it."

"That last phase he's so well noted for was starting to show up again," he said.

The Mets are hoping Santana will be ready for opening day, but it is no sure thing. The recovery time for the type of surgery Santana had is two years; Santana is at 16 months.

The way his shoulder responds after the bullpen session will be closely monitored, but for now Santana is on track to start spring training on time. The first workout for pitchers and catchers is next Wednesday.

"I feel good," he said. "I'm very excited about this, finally having the opportunity to start spring training from the beginning and do all the drills and everything and be part of the team. I'm very excited about it."