Even though it has been four full seasons since he last pitched in the big leagues, two-time Cy Young award winner Johan Santana is planning to attempt a comeback in 2017. Chris Cotillo of SB Nation reports Santana will begin the comeback trail by pitching in winter ball in his native Venezuela.
Santana, who turns 38 in March, has not pitched in the big leagues since 2012 due to a variety of injuries. Most notably, he tore his shoulder capsule twice and blew out his Achilles once. Torn capsules are very serious. They've ended many careers, and even those who make it back are rarely the same, such as John Danks.
During that 2012 season, Santana went 6-9 with a 4.85 ERA (79 ERA+) in 21 starts and 117 innings for the Mets. He threw 134 pitches in a no-hitter against the Cardinals on June 1 that year and was never the same. Santana had a 2.75 ERA in 10 starts before the no-hitter and an 8.27 ERA in 10 starts after.
This is not Santana's first attempt at a comeback. He signed a minor-league deal with the Orioles in 2014 and a minor-league deal with the Blue Jays in 2015. Both times Santana got hurt. He hasn't pitched in an official game of any kind since 2012. Not in the minors, not in winter ball, nothing.
At his peak Santana had one of the best changeups in baseball history and was arguably the top starter in MLB. From 2004-08, Johan pitched to a 2.82 ERA (157 ERA+) while averaging 229 1/3 innings and 238 strikeouts per year. He won the 2004 and 2006 AL Cy Young awards while with the Twins.
The current free-agent pitching class is unbelievably thin. My guess is more than a few teams will take a look at Johan during winter ball just to see how he looks, even at age 37 and with all the injuries. If there's any chance Santana can help a team win in 2017, he'll get signed. No doubt.
