I’ve mentioned this several times, but now I will blow it out into a full fledged I TOLD YOU SO before the mainstream press figures it out.
On May 27th I was in he Promenade with a friend as the Mets played the Nationals. Santana labored threw a 41 pitch 4th inning. he was clearly laboring but Jerry left him. Then the Mets were on offense for a short time and Jerry sent Johan back out. Santana threw 120 pitches that night.
June 2 at Pitt. 3 runs on 6 innings but the radio guys mentioned his velocity was down. Once again I mentioned that I hoped that 41 pitch inning didn’t bite us in the fanny.
June 9 vs Philly: A win, but 5 runs and 4 home runs.
Today: velocity down, 9 runs in 3 innings.
All of us better hope it’s just a tired arm – but it’s another example of why you can’t let these guys throw a million pitches early in the season. If Santana goes down it’s time to wave the white flag rather than make a panic trade trying to chase the dragon.
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You could be right. Or could his performance today be due to being clad in a strange and funky black uniform? You heard it here first.
As the "friend" who was with you on May 27th I have to say that I think you're really off base. Santana is not God. He has always been a strong pitcher but his problem stems from mechanics, not a tired arm or a sore shoulder or overwork.
He had a split nail and a blister which could cause him to grip the ball differently and thus it "seems" like his velocity is down but it's really a matter of correcting that mistake.
We've really got to stop mollycoddling these guys. I've noticed a bunch of complete games in MLB over the past three weeks. Should we be on the lookout for all of these guys to implode over the next three weeks? I doubt it.
Expect Santana to throw a no-no in his next outing.
Unfortunatly I think I aagree with you… but this represents a problem with BASEBALL and not the Mets. I mean… 120 pitches? that is a cake walk 15 years ago.. a guy might go out and pitch on 3 days rest after that.
Baseball.. starting in college and continuing through the minor leagues… has trained pitchers to be so weak and fragile it is comical compared to the days of yore.
And I am not some old man wishing it was back the way it is. I'm a reletivly young 28 years old. I just want to see a pitcher work more then 5 innings and not look like he has been on a 3 day hike with no water.
Its good to see some teams (Royals, BlueJays) bucking this trend, sure it doesnt hurt that they have two of the pitchers that are known to have the stamina, but its a start.
It is indeed a sad day when I blogger can call out one of the best pitchers in baseball for struggling due to a 41 pitch inning, even more sad when he is dead right.
By the way, I couldnt stop shaking my head when I typed "struggling due to a 41 pitch inning".