Santana says that he feels better, and he jokingly told reporters:

“I told them that I’ll be ready for Tuesday, but they don’t want me to.”

While Santana remains optimistic that he will return to form, he also wants to be very cautious going into the off-season, saying:

“Looking forward, we definitely have to make sure that my arm’s fine…We’ll do whatever it takes to make sure that we don’t go through this again.”

Santana told reporters that he didn’t feel any problems while throwing, but the injury did make it difficult for him to follow through and finish his pitches which resulted in balls being left over the plate.

…i think the club should have taken a more conservative approach in Spring Training when he first reported elbow trouble…look, you never want to see the ace of the rotation get injured and go down and i would have to believe that they felt, as did we, that the rotation was thin behind Santana, so losing Santana wasn’t a viable solution at the time…but looking back on his situation then and knowing now that this was discovered over the All-Star Break, why on earth would anyone send Santana out to pitch knowing full well that he has potentially already altered his mechanics which can lead to an even bigger disaster…

The procedure will involve cleaning up chips in his left elbow, and he is expected to recover in time for the start of Spring Training.

…on the one hand, i am happy that it is a minor problem and that this didn’t turn into a long term problem which would keep him out until next August, but i can’t help but wonder why the Mets, who have known about an elbow problem of some kind since February with Santana, why six months later this is being addressed and that they would even consider running the risk of a long term and potentially career changing injury…

…that said, the way this season has gone and the way the injuries have been handled to this point, i really am not surprised that this would happen…

…nothing is definitive until tests are done this afternoon so we will see…

“I knew coming into this game that it was a very important one because of losing three games in a row,” Santana told reporters following the game.  “We knew that somehow we had to stop that.”

According to Elias Sports Bureau, courtesy of ESPN.com, yesterday, Santana became the first pitcher in any major league game this season to get two hits and a walk, while scoring one run and driving in another.

“I was just lucky, I guess, at the plate,” Santana said.  “Any time you have a chance to do something like that, it’s very special.”

…it’s pretty clear, despite all of the discussion about offense and power, the Mets top off-season priority needs to be trading for another elite starting pitcher… the team can piece together the offense, but santana is too good to waste… adding one more top arm will mean the team never hits a big-time losing streak… the two aces will create a floor, so to speak, that the team can build up from… i don’t know who that pitcher is, but he’s not on the roster right now…

Santana is tied with Cardinals RHP Adam Wainwright for the most wins in the National League (13); he’s 11th in ERA (3.00); and seventh in strikeouts with 138 in 153 innings pitched.

…i wonder if the Mets will start to rest him, maybe pitching him every six days or even skipping a start… i mean, what’s the point in having johan throw 220 innings this season, when he can get rest that might save him down the road, next season and beyond…

However, the Cardinals tied the game against Francisco Rodriguez, eventually winning in extra innings..

…santana did not have his best stuff, but he fought and stuck it out, with a lead, that he handed off to rodriguez, all while giving eight innings to get the bullpen rest…

Following the game, Santana said:

“When I left the game, I felt I did my job.  It’s one of those crazy seasons, but we just got to keep our heads up… It’s not the first time I’ve been through something like this… These things happen.  I still gotta be positive about the things this team is capable of doing.”

…santana is hard on his team, including in his post-game remarks to reporters… some fans do not like this, they see it as disrespectful to his teammates… i’m not one of them… i love it… he should show no mercy… he’s a perfectionist, and maybe the best pitcher in baseball… he works hard, he busts his ass out there at every moment, and he expects his teammates to do the same… if there is a player on the team who is intimidated by this, or who takes offense, he should go play for the Pirates… i want the player who hears johan, nods his head, stands up and is motivated, not the guy whose ego is too fragile to take the truth…

Prior to yesterday’s game, Jerry Manuel was asked if the Mets are wasting Santana’s prime with such poor play, to which he said:

“Well, hopefully his prime lasts a lot longer than one or two years… Before he leaves his prime, he’ll pitch here in the post-season.”

In a column for Newsday, Wallace Matthews wonders what would have happened had Santana stayed with the Twins.

In case you missed it…

To watch SNY.TV’s Post Game Extra, featuring clips from the game; quotes from Jerry Manuel and analysis from Ron, Keith and Gary, see the video player in the sidebar of MetsBlog.com.

…from what i can gather, talking with people connected to the team, this is total nonsense… in fact, the Associated Press has not issued any such report, from what i can tell… i trust this is someone having fun with us, fans and reporters, on a day when our heads are spinning…

Speaking of pitchers…

Earlier this week, Ed Price of AOL Fanhouse said the Rays may look to trade Scott Kazmir, which, according to other reports, could free up money to help them acquire a pitcher like Cliff Lee.

SI.com’s Jon Heyman said on WFAN today that there are concerns that Kazmir is not working very hard, he’s throwing 91 mph, not 96 mph like last season, and the Rays would rather save money and invest in other pitching, or a hitter like Indians C Victor Martinez.

Today, Ed Price of AOL Fanhouse says the Rays are still very interested in Martinez, and are talking with the Angels about Kazmir.

Lastly, the Phillies and Blue Jays appear to be the only two teams discussing RHP Roy Halladay, and are embattled in a tug-of-war over prospects, which you can read more about at MLB Trade Rumors.

So far this July, Santana is 2-0 with a microscopic 0.86 ERA in three starts, bouncing back from a rough June in which he went 2-4 with a 6.19 ERA as he seemed to struggle with velocity and wildness in the strike zone.

During his career, Santana is 58-17 with a 2.70 ERA after the All-Star Break, and his best work seems to come in August as he is 27-6 with a 2.36 ERA lifetime.

…i fully expect Santana to be Santana in the second half, and I am hopeful that contributions like the one he gave yesterday in Atlanta become meaningful for the team in the race…

…either way it was definitely nice to see him apparently brush off the negativity surrounding this team for a day and hopefully give the team a shot in the arm…

Mets pitching coach Dan Warthen has asked Santana to “be careful”.

Rich Dubee, the Phillies pitching coach, told Rubin:

“If we can stay away from him, we’ll try to, unless we get into a bind. “Unless it gets into extra innings and stuff and we have to use him, we’re going to try to stay away from him.”

Santana threw 114 pitches in his win over the Reds this past Saturday, and he is slated to pitch this Saturday in Atlanta.

…as happy as I am that Santana is an All-Star, there should be enough pitching on the NL roster to avoid him, even though he is arguably the best they have…

Oliver Perez will start Thursday night against the Braves in Atlanta, followed by Mike Pelfrey on Friday, Johan Santana on Saturday, Fernando Nieve on Sunday, and Livan Hernandez on Monday against the Nationals in Washington.

Jerry Manuel told reporters that Jonathan Niese would take the place of a starter who has “three bad outings in a row”, which seemingly would apply to Hernandez who in his last two starts is 0-2 with a 19.29 ERA, allowing 21 hits, eight walks, and 15 earned runs in his last seven innings and has lost his last four starts.

For now, the rotation will remain in tact, with Manuel saying:

“We’ve had some success with the rotation we have, and you gotta kind of give guys the benefit of the doubt.”

…as much as I think Hernandez has been beneficial and durable, his last two games in particular have been really alarming and with Niese pitching as well as he has been in the minors, it might be wise to consider this change as the team has lost eight of his last nine starts overall…

…if the team is going to make any sort of run in the second half, then I think Manuel  simply must make changes from within as he cannot rely on ownership making a deal…in reality, things couldn’t be much worse…

“Things really worked out well for us early. Angel Pagan…set the table for us. He was able to do some things, made a big play…and it at least got the pitch count up along with…scoring some runs, so if we can continue to do that and…getting hits with men in scoring position…maybe do a better job of reading balls off the bat…those types of things…”

Manuel was then asked about Jeff Francoeur and him getting off to a good start and fighting off a pitch to hit it the other way, to which he said:

“He has done that to us many-a-times…it’s just that competitive nature he brings with him.”

…i know it wasn’t a pretty hit, but the key was that it was good situational hitting…he hit the ball the other way…

With regards to Santana possibly being surprised to get run support:

“I don’t think he gets caught up in whether or not he’s getting runs or not…He usually faces, being a number one, a pretty competitive pitcher anyway.”

Johan Santana, when asked the same question by reporters, said:

“Well it’s good, not just for me but for the whole team; to be able to score those runs against a good pitcher, right from the beginning of the game, I think it gives everyone confidence and we definitely play a better game…that’s what you want to see – you want to put pressure on the opponent right away, and that’s what we did tonight.”

Regarding Francoeur and getting a fresh face possibly helping the team’s mood, Santana said:

“Yeah, definitely.”