From the beginning of July through the end of the year in 2008, Johan Santana was a perfect 9-0 with a 2.09 ERA, with his signature outing coming on the final Saturday of the season against the Florida Marlins.
So far this July, Santana is 2-0 with a microscopic 0.86 ERA in three starts, bouncing back from a rough June in which he went 2-4 with a 6.19 ERA as he seemed to struggle with velocity and wildness in the strike zone.
During his career, Santana is 58-17 with a 2.70 ERA after the All-Star Break, and his best work seems to come in August as he is 27-6 with a 2.36 ERA lifetime.
…i fully expect Santana to be Santana in the second half, and I am hopeful that contributions like the one he gave yesterday in Atlanta become meaningful for the team in the race…
…either way it was definitely nice to see him apparently brush off the negativity surrounding this team for a day and hopefully give the team a shot in the arm…
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Good stuff, but please don’t use the word microscopic…that sends chills down the spines of Mets fans hoping to see Beltran back soon.
On this date 40 yrs ago, the Mets were only 4 games back. They went a not-so-terrible 10-14 in the next 24 games, but the red-hot Cubs went 16-8, extending the division lead to a seemingly unsurpassable 10 games on August 13, almost a month from now.
The Mets won the division by 9 games.
I’m just saying.
There’s always hope! lol
Hey…. Mets are 3-2 in their last five… We’re ordering playoff tickets.
F-Core is 3-2!
Win today and they can be 5 back of the wild card — only 5 teams in front of them… just saying
Dont laugh…..
Knowing the Mets, even if the Mets are 20 games out they will stick it to season ticket holders and make them purchase post-season tickets.
That way they get to keep the $$$ for a couple on months. And then delay long enough to offer a refund in hope that the season-ticket holder will let the money roll-over until 2010 at zero interest.
Who else thinks this will happen?
I wouldn’t put it past them!
Here’s the lineup guys!
Pagan, cf
Castillo, 2b
Murphy, 1b
Wright, 3b
Francoeur, rf
Reed, lf
Cora, ss
Schneider, c
Nieve, rhp
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/mets/#ixzz0LjTye70M
UGH. What, no Joe McEwing?
I’ve said it after Johan’s last start. I simply can’t get all that excited when we win a Santana start. We all know he’s phenomenal. But even if he wins every start between now and the end of the season, we have NO chance of even sniffing the playoffs unless the rest of this pitching staff begins performing.
Are Pelfrey and Livan going to get it together again? Is Perez going to some how figure out how to be effective? Is John Maine ever going to come back healthy?
My two cents:
1) Yes, Pelfrey will come back strong. I think he is either putting too much pressure on himself or his arm is just tired because of the Verducci Effect. It just doesn’t make sense to me that a guy who threw upper 90s consistently in college and in the minors all of a sudden sits around 91-93…he needs to go back to throwing harder and using his curveball. Livan, however, is done…time to call up Niese.
2) Perez has been his old self since returning. I’ll chalk his seven-walk performance up to nerves. His last appearance against the Braves wasn’t that bad, and with a good offense backing him up, he gets the win. Of course, he isn’t pitching as good as a $12MM pitcher should be pitching, but it’s what I expected out of him.
3) No, I don’t think Maine will ever be effective again. He seems to be hurt all the time and it may be time to either let him go or see what we can get for him. Let’s hope he comes back this season and has a few good starts to increase his trade value. We can look to acquire a SP in the off-season, but right now we just need to ride it out. With guys like Holt and Mejia flying through the system, I’d say Maine and Ollie’s days are numbered.
My projected rotation by September 2010:
Santana
Pelfrey
Perez
Niese
Holt
This season may not be “over,” but it’s time to rebuild for 2010 and beyond. We need Reyes and Beltran to come back healthy, and if Delgado is a brand new man after this surgery, perhaps sign him to a one-year deal to give us some pop and hold down first base until Ike Davis gets more experience in AA and AAA.
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