K-Rod returns, discusses his brothers' terrible accident

Francisco Rodriguez rejoined his baseball family Sunday and will be in the bullpen Monday as the Mets open the 2010 season against the Marlins at Citi Field.

Rodriguez rejoined the Mets in time for yesterday's Citi Field workout after spending four days in his native Venezuela. Two of Rodriguez's brothers were seriously injured in a horrific truck crash early Wednesday morning.

After sharing details of the ordeal, K-Rod said he will do his best to maintain focus should the Mets need him to close out an Opening Day win.

"It's difficult because sometimes your mind is going to be over there and your body is here," he said. "But I've got to find a way to just wipe it out and make sure to concentrate when it's time to do my job.''

Johan Santana will throw the first pitch at about 1:10 p.m. to the Marlins' Chris Coghlan as the Mets try to put a disappointing 2009 behind them. They will be without three regulars - Carlos Beltran, Jose Reyes and Daniel Murphy - but hope Reyes will be back for the weekend.

It will be a successful day if Rodriguez throws the final pitch to close out a Mets victory. The team got a boost when he showed up in the clubhouse Sunday morning; his status had been in doubt since he abruptly left spring training Wednesday after learning of the accident.

Rodriguez said his brothers Leandro and Erik were among five men making a 10-hour drive from Caracas to Apure early Wednesday when Erik fell asleep at the wheel. The truck overturned, rolled down a hill and later exploded, according to Rodriguez.

"They broke the window and took [Erik] out,'' Rodriguez said. "And five minutes later, the car exploded. It totally exploded.''

It took four hours before a passerby spotted the men on the remote road, four hours to transport them to a local hospital and another 10 to transfer them to Caracas in a pair of ambulances, Rodriguez said.

Erik, 24, suffered a broken arm. The injuries to Leandro, 21, were much more serious. Rodriguez said Leandro broke both hips and many other bones and was unable to communicate much when the pitcher visited him at the hospital in Caracas. "He was all medicated,'' Rodriguez said. "He didn't really open his eyes. He could barely see me. I didn't like to see it and I got out of the room."

Rodriguez said four of the five men were hospitalized, but Erik has since been released.

"It is traumatic,'' Rodriguez said. "You know accidents are part of life, but you never want to see one of your brothers involved in it. When you see him four or five weeks ago totally healthy, and when you go back there and see him with a bunch of IVs, in a bed all with scars and scratches, you don't feel good. It gets to the point where you realize how important your family is."

Even with the state of their bullpen, the Mets likely would have understood if Rodriguez had missed the workout or even the opener. He said it was not an easy decision to return, but his real family urged him to return to his baseball one.

"I've got a big responsibility here, too,'' he said. "I just decided to come practice and come here. I see they're making a lot of good progress. They're the ones who pretty much told me to go over there and said, 'Don't worry. We're going to be fine.' ''