Excitement Mounts for Mets as Santana Has a Sharp Session on the Mound LUCIE, Fla. - Johan Santana enjoys making light of the stir he creates these days every time he grips a baseball with his left hand. "You're making this a big deal," he said, grinning, as a band of reporters and Mets staff members congregated in his proximity Friday. It's like I've never thrown a baseball before. Maybe he is right. Maybe it is silly to get worked up over a couple of dozen pitches thrown in February. But maybe the Mets can be forgiven, too, for making so much out of it. With an uncertain outlook for the coming season, the Mets will undoubtedly cling to any good omen they can find. Friday afternoon, they got one. Santana, who last pitched off a mound in October, threw 25 pitches without pain in his first bullpen session of the year. Santana had surgery in 2010 to repair a torn capsule in his left shoulder, and the Mets have watched him warily during his lengthy rehabilitation. He pitched last fall in the instructional league, but was told by doctors to shut down over the winter to rest his fatigued arm. Actually facing and retiring batters in game situations, the Mets acknowledge, is a big leap from where Santana stands. But that did not dull their excitement. "It's a huge step for us, and it's a big day for him," Mets Manager Terry Collins said. Now let's gradually move forward and build him up. Both Collins and the pitching coach Dan Warthen observed Santana's session, with other coaches and staff members nearby. General Manager Sandy Alderson, who arrived in Florida late Thursday after a two-day drive from New York, was on hand to watch Santana, too. "I feel really good," Santana said afterward. I'm excited about being on the mound and being able to start competing. Although good feelings abounded Friday afternoon, so did a sense of caution. After Santana's 15th pitch, Warthen called out, "Good for 10 more?" Santana nodded in response. And soon it was Warthen who was nodding - and sometimes shaking his head and smiling - as Santana closed the session with sliders and changeups. "To see that the first time he's been out there in quite a while, that's impressive," Collins said. The plan now is to have Santana follow a somewhat regular pitching schedule that can be adjusted depending on his reaction after each session. Santana is scheduled to pitch off the mound again Tuesday afternoon. "The approach that we had from the beginning was to do everything like I always do to get ready for the season," Santana said. Tomorrow is an important day, and we'll see how I recover from it. Santana said that he felt comfortable throwing the ball - whipping and extending his arm, rather than "pushing" it - and that he felt much better physically than he did last year. And though Santana has seemed amused this week by the attention he gets for simply playing catch, Collins speculated he was more excited than he let on. "You saw the smile on his face," Collins said. You don't think he's happy with what's going on? The Mets, who gathered for voluntary workouts this week, will close their spring training complex Saturday and Sunday before reopening Monday, the official reporting date for pitchers and catchers.