Posts tagged ‘Johan Santana’

After a very disappointing loss in Saturday afternoon’s game, the Mets were able to bounce back and win the night cap.  I believe this is the third time this season the Mets have lost the first game of a doubleheader at home only to win the second.  It’s kind of the story of this season…the team’s resiliency.

Johan Santana was very good in the first game but struggled in the eighth, and then of course the bullpen couldn’t hold on for him.  Like I’ve said over and over again, the Mets bullpen will be the reason this team fails or succeeds this year.

Carlos Beltran, Jose Reyes and David Wright all had nice second games after struggling in the first.  Gotta hope and pray David turns this thing around for the rest of the season.  This was his second out of third good game.

Jon Niese was awesome tonight.  I missed most of the game traveling back from Shea, but what I did see was Niese dominating the Braves.  He has great stuff and some serious moxie.  He was so nervous in his first start in Milwaukee, but he seemed confident today.  I said on the show this guy is going to impress people before September is finished, and he proved me right tonight.

Ollie Perez looks for a rebound game tomorrow after getting smacked around Tuesday night.  If Ollie gives up one or no runs, then Scott gets his bold prediction right.  So keep an eye on that.

Well that was a stunner in the opposite way.  I’m shocked the Mets actually came back on the road and beat the Phillies late in a game.

I really though the only way the Mets were winning tonight was if Johan Santana threw a ridiculous game.  But actually Santana wasn’t very good tonight.  He gave up three runs in the first two innings, but he did settle down after that to pitch very four very strong innings.

Carlos Delgado gets the golden star for this game.  How clutch was the big guy!?  He got a two-out run scoring single in the first and then hit two solo bombs to tie the game.  He now has 30 homers and 93 RBI for the season.  He’s going to surpass his numbers in 2006 if he keeps his pace.

Big surprise that Daniel Murphy gets the game-winning RBI.  This guy has been awesome all year long, and he came through tonight in a big way.  That double to the opposite field off Brad Lidge was one of the biggest hits all season.

The bullpen has to credit for tonight’s win.  Brian Stokes, Pedro Feliciano, Joe Smith and Luis Ayala got the job done tonight.  These guys failed last night, but they were able to rebound and help give the Mets a win tonight.

I was pissed after last night’s loss and deservedly so.  This team gets off to good starts and then folds at the end of games.  But I have to give this team credit on one thing…they seem to bounce back from tough losses really well.  It seems like every time I go on a long rant about this team is so mentally fragile, they win the next night.  While they did score another run in the first tonight, they actually came back and outscored the Phillies from the 7th inning on, which is rare.  All in all, a split isn’t terrible but they really should have swept this team.

The Phillies go to Chicago for four games, which means the Mets should probably have a 2.5 game lead by the end of the weekend.  The Mets have a much-needed off day tomorrow and then travel to Florida for three.  The Marlins are basically baked so I’m expecting at worst, a two-out-of-three series win.

Another seemingly easy win tonight for the Metsies.  It’s now five in a row and 10 of 11 and the Phillies are lucky to be hanging around right now…unlike the Marlins as predicted.

It’s amazing how successful this team has been in the first inning of guys.  I think that’s such a key stat…if only they could score more later in games, but I’ll take what I can get when it results in a W.

Johan Santana has been absolutely ridiculous since June 1st.  His ERA is barely above 2 since that point…in fact his ERA for the season is at 2.64 which would be his lowest since 2004 when he had a career low 2.61 ERA.  I think it was fair to say he got off to a disappointing start, but he’s been nothing short of brilliant lately.

It was great to see Ryan Church back on the field.  He still looks a little dazed and confused, but if the Mets can get him healthy in time for the postseason I really like this team’s chances to go deep into October.

And how about Brian Schneider.  He’s been an offensive juggernaut lately.  Schneider hit his third homer in his last five starts and has brought his OBP up to a respectable .350.  I’m not saying he’s a great catcher, but at least he’s not absolutely killing the team right now.

John Maine heads to the mound to try and keep this winning streak alive.  It will be interesting to see Maine’s velocity after he looked terrible on Monday in Pittsburgh.  Keep an eye on that.

Pretty sweet weekend to be a Mets fan.  The boys are pulling away from the pack in the NL East….goodbye Marlins at least.  I told you they’d fade eventually. 

Johan Santana and Pedro Martinez were marvelous this weekend.  I loved the fact Jerry Manuel let Santana finish what he started.  It was the best start of the season for both guys, which is certainly a good sign looking ahead.

The rotation on a whole has been awesome lately.  I’m very confident with our starting pitching.  It’s part of the reason the Mets have now scored first in 19 of their last 21 road games. 

Let’s hope for a Phillies loss in San Diego tonight and three-game lead in the division.  It’s exciting times to be a Mets fan.

Well as most of you can tell, I couldn’t be more excited about the Mets getting Johan Santana. He is without a doubt the best pitcher in baseball. In an earlier post, I said the Mets haven’t had a pitcher this good since Tom Seaver, but I forgot about Dwight Gooden in his prime. If he can stay healthy, the Mets will not only make the playoffs, but they’ll have an excellent chance to cruise through the NLDS and NLCS. The 1-4 of Santana, Pedro, Maine and Perez is the most balanced in the National League and the Santana-Pedro duo is just as good if not better than Peavy-Young and Haren-Webb, and the Mets offense is far superior to that of the Padres and Diamondbacks.

A lot of Mets fans may not have seen Santana pitch since he’s been in Minnesota his whole career, but trust me when I tell you he’s going to be absolutely dominant in the NL next season. The Mets will have a supreme advantage every time he pitches. And let’s not forget all the intangibles Santana brings to the table. He used to be an outfielder when he was making his way to the bigs and had a .292 average last season during interleague play. He’s a gold glove fielder and apparently is a great clubhouse guy.

Ted and I will talk about this on Monday night, but I truly think this will go down as the most important trade in Mets history. Let’s also remember the Mets did not give up Fernando Martinez, Mike Pelfrey and Aaron Heilman…three guys who are more valuable than any of the four the Mets wound up giving up. An absolute steal for the Mets!!! Get ready Mets fans because we have an exciting season in store for us.

The big news out of Flushing, as I’m sure you’ve already heard, is that the Mets have reportedly traded Deolis Guerra, Phil Humber, Kevin Mulvey and Carlos Gomez for Johan Santana. On paper, it’s hard not to like this deal if you’re a Mets fan. The Amazins parted with four solid prospects, but no sure bets, and returned the best pitcher in baseball. So it’s an understandably joyous day for the Shea Faithful.

On the other hand, the Mets gave up four prospects only for the right to sign a pitcher to a long-term deal at market value, and with Santana’s price tag likely to be steep thanks to Metscast whipping boy Brian Sabean’s ridiculous offer to Barry Zito, the deal could end up costing the Mets in the long run. Will it? Mike and I will discuss it soon, so stay tuned.

Hello Mets fans,

Welcome to the first of many blog posts on the site. It’s been a slow offseason for the Mets. They lost Tom Glavine, Guillermo Mota, Paul “My phone is toast!” LoDuca, Lastings Milledge and Shawn Green and have replaced those guys with Matt Wise, Brian Schneider, Ryan Church and most recently Angel Pagan. Ted has written in his latest blog on SNY that the Mets should remain quiet and enter the season with the team they have right now.

I agree the Mets could win the division with their current roster. For the most part, they have a very similar team to the one they had last year and that team led the NL East for almost the whole season. The Phillies and Braves have both lost key players (Aaron Rowand, Andruw Jones and Edgar Renteria) and the only significant player either team added was Brad Lidge, which could be bad or good for the Phils.

It’s true the Mets have a formidable front three with a healthy Pedro combined with Oliver Perez and John Maine. I also agree it would be foolish to sign a mediocre starter like Kyle Lohse to a four-year deal when Phillip Humber and Mike Pelfrey could do just as good of a job. But I disagree when Ted says we shouldn’t mortgage the future for Johan Santana.

Santana is the type of dominant pitcher the Mets haven’t had since Tom Seaver, and he might even be better than Tom Terrific when he’s at his best. He throws a devastating changeup to go along with a mid-90’s fastball. When he’s motivated, he ranks right up there with the most dominating pitchers of all-time. Throw him in a pitcher-friendly park, in the NL, surrounded by a great defense, and it wouldn’t be a shock if Santana posts a sub-2.00 ERA and wins 20 games. If healthy, he makes the Mets the clear favorites to make the World Series and helps fans (and the players) forget about a historic collapse.

Even if the Mets have to face the Red Sox or the Yankees in the World Series, with a four-some of Santana, Pedro, Ollie and Maine, they would give any American League team a run for their money. I don’t think the same could be said with their current roster. They need to make a splashy move, and I think Omar knows that. But if none is available, then don’t overpay for Joe Blanton or other 2/3-type starters out there. In my eyes, it’s Santana or bust.