Coleman's Corner: Waiting Is The Hardest Part For Mets' Ike Davis And Johan Santana

By Ed Coleman
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Tom Petty once famously told us in song that, "the waiting is the hardest part."  He now has two new converts: Ike Davis and Johan Santana.  They both knew they had to wait, but at least in Davis' case if not Santana's, just not this long.

Davis' bone bruise looks pretty much the same so again - the Mets will back him off and basically will shut him down for the next 4 weeks.  G.M. Sandy Alderson says that it will effectively end his 2011 season, if it wasn't already over well before this.

In Ike's case, everyone has wondered – how can a bone bruise take this long to heal?  There are extenuating circumstances, according to Alderson.

The frustrating part for Davis is that it's not the same.  It's not getting worse; it's actually getting better but just not better quickly enough.

Both the Mets and Davis would love to avoid possible microfracture surgery because there aren't any guarantees.  But as Alderson states, there still is time to get it done and have the first baseman ready for spring training.

As for Ike, having a little more peace of mind surely wouldn't hurt.

Santana has shoulder fatigue, certainly not unexpected after undergoing grueling capsule surgery.  The Mets just finished watching Chien-Ming Wang make his first start in over two years last Friday in Washington after having the same shoulder surgery.

Santana will do strengthening exercises but no throwing over the weekend and will look to resume throwing sometime early next week.  That will consist of side work and bullpen sessions, with a likely second rehab start still undetermined at some point in the near future.  Alderson was asked if he had pushed things to this point; why not just shut him down?

So does it make sense to Santana to see how far he can come back before the season is over and possibly even pitch at the major-league level in September?

Whatever happens between now and the close of the season, there will still be some questions to answer on Santana moving forward.  Alderson knows there are still two years and lots of money left on the ace's contract.

The hardest part for Santana?  Well, it's not the actual pitching in games…

Ah, back to the waiting once again.  Santana will do things on his time and his terms.  He is sensible and savvy enough to pitch when he knows his shoulder and body is ready to accept it and withstand it.  For both he and Davis, hopefully it doesn't take forever.

C U soon,

Eddie C.

The questions about Santana and Davis continue and again Met fans are left 'waiting.'  Have an opinion about the health of the injured Met stars?  Let us know below…