Yes, it’s odd, but I’m a Red Sox and Mets fan. I must love suffering at the hands of the Yankees. Anyway… that’s ancient history right now.
About half way through this season, a good friend of mine who’s a big Yankee fan, asked me if I was happy with Johan Santana. At that point, Santana hadn’t pitched awful, but to my friends’ point, he wasn’t looking like a 140 million dollar man.
Tonight, Santana got his 15th win of the season. It was a big win. Maybe even a million dollar victory. With the Mets seemingly intent on re-enacting last years’ collapse, Santana struck out ten in eight innings while giving up just two runs as the Mets defeated the Cubs 6-2.
The effect? The Mets’ three game losing streak is over. And they moved within a game and a half of division leading Philadelphia. Notice how I didn’t even mention the wild card in this paragraph?
Anyway, Santana did exactly what an ace should do. He put the skids on the skid. And he’s been at it a while. Santana is known for being a second half pitcher. This year is no exception. In his last 16 starts, Santana is 8-0 with a 2.26 ERA. That, my friends, is an A-C-E even if this year his 15 plus wins won’t result in an C-Y Y-O-U-N-G.
Here’s hoping the Mets don’t blow it for him and give Johan Santana the chance to pitch on baseball’s biggest stage this fall.
2 Comments
September 24, 2008 at 4:29 am
Wins are the single most overrated stat in baseball. If the Mets horrible bullpen didn’t blow all of his starts, he would have over 20 wins right now. Plus, I don’t know how long you’ve watched Santana, but the man has 2 Cy young awards and should have 3. He’s always been an ace. His ERA has been well below 3 for a big portion of the season and he’s given the Mets well over 200 innings this year. He’s been everything they paid for and then some.
September 24, 2008 at 11:47 am
Totally agree with all that you say.
PS – I’ve watched Santana his whole career. Maybe you aren’t watching him that closely this year. When the year started, Mets fans and others were questioning his worth. The point of my post is that he is indeed worth his emense salary.
Thanks for checking out the site & taking time to comment.
Please come on back,
TJ