Former Major League Baseball pitcher Johan Santana has had the opportunity to coach his son as a youth baseball player at a Florida high school, but he is also looking forward to the day when he is given the opportunity to do so at the professional level
Santana, who played for the Minnesota Twins and New York Mets over the course of 13 MLB seasons, has been getting a taste of that satisfaction this weekend at Clover Park, where he is serving as an invited instructor for the New York team
Left-handed pitchers Sean Manaea and David Peterson are among the Mets pitchers who have sought the advice of the now-retired Santana.
“Here they do listen to you,” Santana said when asked about the difference between coaching Major League players and high school players. “There they think they know.”
Manaea might be the Mets pitcher most excited about Santana’s presence.
Sean Manaea and his idolatry for Santana
Manaea recalled that as a child Santana, winner of two Cy Young Awards, was his great idol, after on the mound his success was based on a great mastery of the changeup.
“It’s great when you have greats like them visiting,” Manaea said, while Santana was honored to know that he was Manaea’s favorite player when he was a child.
“I told him it was an honor, very good, he’s a great kid,” Santana said. “He has great stuff and he’s going to be a big part of this team. Whatever it takes for him to get better and help him get all the way because this team is built to win.”
Santana’s place in Mets history was cemented when he threw the first no-hitter in franchise history on June 1, 2012
Santana needed 134 pitches to complete the historic performance and was placed on the disabled list a few weeks later
He returned the following spring and tore a capsule in his shoulder for the second time, ending his career that began in 2000 with the Twins, until 2008 when he became a Mets pitcher
Santana has remained mostly out of the public eye since his retirement (he returned to Citi Field in 2022 to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the no-hitter), but his friendship with fellow Venezuelan Carlos Mendoza, the team’s current manager, led him to visit spring training this weekend.
Mendoza first mentioned the idea to Santana last season, when the Mets played in Miami and Santana was visiting.
“Mendoza is very important to us in Venezuela,” Santana said. “It’s great to have him, the way he did it, where he is now and what the future looks like for him. As a Venezuelan, I’m proud.”
Read the full article here
