So much for that.
After an impressive 2008 in which he went 16-7 with a 2.53 ERA, Santana succumbed to an elbow injury that eventually resulted in surgery as the injury-plagued Mets floundered through 2009. But according to Santana, his prognosis is good. He told the New York Daily News on Friday that, after having bone chips removed from his elbow on Tuesday, he will be "good to go" when spring training kicks off in 2010.
"One thing we have to do next year is to take care of ourselves and try to stay healthy, for sure," he told the newspaper. "When we came into this season, we had all the right pieces to make it happen. But unfortunately we got hurt, and when that happens, you limit your chances to succeed and win."
Throughout the course of this season, the Mets have endured injuries to key players such as Jose Reyes, Carlos Beltran, David Wright and Santana, among others. They are currently 17 1/2 games behind the Phillies in the NL East.
Santana also told the Daily News that if the Mets had been in contention for a postseason berth, he would have put off surgery until after they had been eliminated.
"The reason why I stopped is because they wanted me to stop," he said. "Otherwise, I woudln't stop. I would've kept pitching and tried to help my team. Once you get into a game, you don't even think about it. You just go out there and perform and try to do whatever to help."
