Coming off the worst outing of his career, all eyes will be back on Johan Santana this afternoon at CitiField, weather permitting. Santana was roughed up by the Yankees last Sunday. I was at the game and it was horrible. I immediately thought something was wrong with him physically.

He is so good, you expect any extended bad play to be due to a physical ailment.  In the insuing days after the game Johan has said he is fine physically, only mentioning a blister and a little back stiffness in the past. According to Dan Warthen he had a very strong bullpen session this week.

It would help calm everyone’s nerves if he went out and threw a good game today. Another rough outing and sirens and panic will be ringing throughout Met fan’s heads.

It’s raining and the tarp is on the field at CitiField right now. The weather has been horrible the past couple weeks in New York, it’s felt more like Seattle, with the constant clouds and rain. If the game gets rained out and Johan goes tomorrow instead, then he would be in line to start the first game at Citifield vs. the Yankees on Friday. Here’s today’s scheduled lineup:

Cora – ss
Murphy – 1b
Beltran – cf
Wright – 3b
Church – rf
Reed – lf
Santos – c
Castillo – 2b
Santana – sp

Photo: Simmons/Daily News