Johan Santana sat in an interview room at Shea Stadium on Sept. 27, the penultimate day of the season, with his left knee packed in ice. No one else there that afternoon knew  or had reason to believe  that Santana had just pitched a three-hit shutout on short rest, briefly revitalizing the Mets’ playoff hopes, despite enduring discomfort so severe that it would require surgery.

“You just saw me that day  trust me, I had been icing it for the last two months,” Santana said Saturday in a telephone interview from his off-season home in Fort Myers, Fla. “The last four starts is when I felt it got worse, when it was really tough for me to bend my knee. But that game, I was so into it that I didn’t feel anything, to be honest. As soon as the game was over, though, I ran back to the training room and got some ice and tape and started to feel some relief.”

On Oct. 1, Santana had arthroscopic surgery to repair a torn meniscus, and said he started rehabilitating the next day. He has since had no setbacks, he said, and his off-season workout regimen has not been hindered. It is too soon, he has been told, to start running, but he rides an exercise bike to maintain his range of motion and trains at a gym almost daily.

“I’m right on track,” said Santana, adding that he intends to pitch for Venezuela in the World Baseball Classic. “Everything’s been in place, the way it’s supposed to be, and I’m taking everything easy to make sure I’m ready for spring training.”