Johan Santana’s agent says the two-time Cy Young Award winner should be able to pitch again in the Venezuelan Winter League.
Santana retired six straight batters on Jan. 13 for the Magallanes Navigators in his first outing since tearing his left Achilles tendon last June 6 while pitching in extended spring training with the Baltimore Orioles. He has not pitched since.
"Results of (an) MRI show no structural damage — just shoulder fatigue," agent Peter Greenberg said Thursday in an email to The Associated Press. "Johan is available to pitch in the next round, which is the finals, but that will be a decision depending on what the manager and general manager decide. That meeting will take place on Monday, and they will decide then."
Santana, 139-78 in 12 major league seasons, has made just 21 big league appearances in the last four seasons due to a pair of shoulder operations and the foot injury. The left-hander, who turns 36 in March, hopes to sign with a big league organization. He won the Cy Young Awards for Minnesota in 2004 and 2006.
He has not pitched in the major leagues since 2012 with the New York Mets. Santana signed a $137.5 million, six-year contract with New York before the 2008 season and had surgery Sept. 14, 2010, to repair tears in the front and bottom of his left shoulder’s anterior capsule.
He returned to the major leagues on April 5, 2012, and pitched the first no-hitter in Mets history that June 1 against St. Louis, throwing a career-high 134 pitches. He then went 3-7 with an 8.27 ERA and cut his season short because of lower back inflammation.
Santana experienced weakness in his pitching shoulder during the following spring training and had surgery on April 2, 2013, for a tear in the capsule in the front of his left shoulder.
