Port St. Lucy – Johann Santana enjoys coaching her son at Javee baseball at a prep school in Florida, but she also looks forward to the day she may offer coaching at a professional level.
The former Mets ace has acquired that satisfying taste at Clover Park this weekend, where he serves as the team's guest instructor.
Left-handed Sean Mania and David Peterson are Mets pitchers who sought Santana's advice.
“Here they listen,” Santana said when asked about the difference between coaching major leaguers and high school players. “There, I think they know.”
Mana Air may be the Mets pitcher who is most excited about Santana's presence.
Growing up, Manaea said he idolized two Cy Young Award winners.
The two compared Saturday's notes.
“When you have such a great guy, it's cool [visit]Mania said.
Santana was humbled to find out he is a 33-year-old Manaea's favorite player.
“I told him it was an honor, it's pretty cool. He's a great kid,” Santana said. “He has something great and he's going to be a big part of this team. This team is built to win, so it's necessary to make him better and help him get through all the time. Anything that is.”
Santana's place in Mets lore solidified when he threw the first no-hitter in franchise history on June 1, 2012.
Santana needed 134 pitches to complete his historic performance and was on the list of injured within the next few weeks.
He returned the next spring, tearing the capsule over his shoulder for the second time, effectively ending his career.
Since his retirement, Santana has mostly been out of general view. He returned to Citifield in 2022 to celebrate his 10th anniversary of no hits, but due to his friendship with Venezuela's Carlos Mendoza, he visited spring training this weekend.
Mendoza first mentioned the idea last season when the Mets played in Miami and Santana was visiting.
“[Mendoza] It's a big deal for us in Venezuela,” Santana said. “It's great, he and the way he did it, where he is now and how the future looks for him. As a Venezuelan, I'm proud.”
