Before the rain set in, the Mets’ starting pitchers that didn’t travel today took batting practice on Field 2 in Port St. Lucie.

The group — Johan Santana, R.A. Dickey, Mike Pelfrey, Jeurys Familia, Chris Schwinden and Miguel Batista — split into two teams. They took turns in the batter’s box as coach Guy Conti fired baseballs through a pitching machine. They vaguely simulated a game, with Conti serving both as the ump and the judge of each outcome based on the batted balls, both teams in a messy half-circle around the batting cage hooting and jeering after every swing.

The players argued every fly-ball to the outfield was a double. Conti was generous with some, but reasonable. When he made a call that didn’t go the hitter’s way, the hitter griped — none moreso than the very jovial Santana. Johan Santana has won 133 games and made over $100 million playing baseball, and he still really wanted to win some stupid quasi-game on a back field in Spring Training and appeared to be having a hell of a lot of fun in the process.

At some point, David Wright, Danny Herrera, Tim Byrdak and Frank Francisco wandered over. A few times, Conti deferred to their judgment on hits. After Familia ripped a line drive down the third-base line, the players debated whether Wright would have made the play.

Batista smacked what might have been a walk-off home run to left center. It audibly hit the base of a fence, but it was difficult to tell from the batting cage if it hit the home-run fence or a shorter one a few feet behind it. Herrera called it a home run, but after some debate Conti decided the game should continue for another inning, and no one complained.

Everyone took another turn in the cage. A few more fly balls were called doubles, a few more bunts were laid down, one team — I’m not even sure which — was named the victor — and, just before the rain started, all the pitchers spread around the field to collect the baseballs.

This all means nothing, of course. Baseball is just awesome, is all.

I wanted to make this “Tim Byrdak postgame videobombs” but that’s a difficult thing to track.

Context: Lefty specialist Tim Byrdak appeared in 72 games for the Mets in 2011. He pitched 64 times for the Astros in 2010 and 76 times in 2009. The Mets have lefties Danny Herrera, Chuck James, Garrett Olson and Rob Carson in Major League camp, but none is a lock to make the Major League roster.

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Context: Ronny Cedeno appears set to be the Mets’ primary backup at shortstop and an occasional defensive replacement at second. He was a regular shortstop for the Pirates in 2010 and 2011. For what it’s worth, the Mets have encouraged him to work on his plate discipline this offseason, and yesterday Terry Collins praised Cedeno’s work in that area. But Cedeno is a lifetime .246/.286/.353 hitter and the Mets have both righty-hitting Scott Hairston and Justin Turner also set for the bench, so it would take some dramatic improvement or a rash of injuries for him to merit any pinch-hitting opportunities.

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Johan Santana pitched two shutout innings to open today’s Grapefruit League game against the Cardinals at Digital Domain Park in Port St. Lucie, Fla. He threw 29 pitches, 17 of them strikes. He walked Shane Robinson and allowed a single to Mark Hamilton.

Santana’s command wasn’t there yet: He bounced a changeup, threw a couple sliders in the dirt and some fastballs way out of the strike zone. But the rest of it was: The cocky shimmy on the mound as he leaned in, the perfectly manicured Van Dyke, the athleticism he used to start a double play in the first.

The stadium gun even registered his fastball in the high 80s, topping out at 90 — a very positive sign for March 6. And Dan Warthen said that on the Mets’ gun, Santana hit 92 and sat at 90 for most of his outing. Seems crazy, I know.

Catcher Josh Thole said Santana was willing to throw all of his pitches in every situation. “It was fun,” he said. “There was no uncertainty.

“He said to me, ‘hey, be ready: I’ve got a second gear.”

Santana said this:

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“This has been a great camp so far,” Terry Collins said. “But this has been the most positive day we’ve had.

“We take enough body blows as it is… enjoy it for once.”

It’s March 6, so it’s important not to get carried away. But then, it’s March 6 and Johan Santana is pitching in vaguely competitive baseball games, throwing fastballs at least in the high 80s, and looking and acting and sounding like Johan Santana.

So screw it: Get carried away. Go all Twitter on this and take it seven steps down the road. Let your imaginations run wild. It’s Johan Santana and he’s doing stuff and his arm still appears to be intact.

It’s hard to believe it’s for real, and that there won’t be speedbumps or roadblocks along the way for Santana. I get that. But as a fan, I want to roll the windows down and put the pedal to the floor until the next one arrives, since it has kind of been a while since I’ve enjoyed the thrill of the open road.

Really I just need this to last until tomorrow at midnight when the Doritos Locos Taco comes out. Is that too much to ask?