LAKELAND, Fla. — We spoke to Jerry Manuel before today’s game, and the manager continues to downplay concerns about Johan Santana‘s elbow soreness or availability for Opening Day. Santana set off alarm bells this morning when he told reporters back in Port St. Lucie that he has triceps tendinitis in his left elbow that could cause him to miss his scheduled Opening Day start April 6 in Cincinnati.

Santana will throw a 30-35 pitch bullpen session tomorrow morning in Port St. Lucie, and the Mets’ ace said how he feels in the 24 hours after that outing will be crucial to deciding his status for Opening Day.

Manuel, on the other hand, pooh-poohed the severity of Santana’s situation.

“Again, extra, extra, extra cautious,” Manuel said. “Johan pitched a lot for us last year. This is my opportunity to make sure everything is all right. I’m not concerned about March 1, March 8, March 15. I’m concerned about April 6. That’s my concern. I pushed him a little bit last year.”

At the same time, Manuel didn’t deny that Santana could be somewhere other than on the mound April 6.

Asked if Santana starting Opening Day was important, Manuel said: “What we have to understand is that we still want the [same] amount of starts. When we start affecting the amount of starts from the ace, then we have an issue. As long as we’re not affecting that, we’ve got no problem.”

The Mets say they still have no plans to send Santana back to New York for an MRI exam, and Manuel insisted he would not be holding his breath over the next 48 hours.

“Not at all,” Manuel said. “I’m being honest — I’m not concerned at all. That’s because I’m going to be extra, extra, extra cautious. I don’t want to push this. He’s too important to us.”