3
2010
Johan Santana’s Health
An article by 
This past Saturday night, the NYPD began an investigation involving an SUV parked in Times Square packed with fertilizer and fireworks that could have been part of some kind of terrorist attack.
A report from the Washington Post surfaced that Police and FBI agents are investigating a 911 call placed at 4 a.m. Sunday from a public telephone near Times Square warning of an imminent explosion and that it was only a diversion.
Serious stuff no doubt. What it illustrates besides how living in a post 9-11 world is more dangerous than ever, it shows us that at the very least, we really are never told exactly what’s going on. Whether that’s good or not I guess depends on your point of view.
It’s odd to me while watching Johan Santana get his caboose handed to him that I thought of the Times Square situation. By no means am I trying to trivialize national security or what the men and women who protect us everyday do. Hardly.
What dawned on me isn’t what we know, but probably the countless things involving this developing story that we don’t have the foggiest about, and probably never will.
That’s what made me think of Johan Santana. Is he really ok? His last outing he was hitting the mid to high 80′s on the JUGGS gun with his fastball. Even the SNY broadcasting team picked up on it. For his change-up to be effective it has to have some separation in speed from his heater. That’s the case for any pitcher who wants to be successful.
He was hitting around 90-91 on Sunday night but his pitches were down the pipe and lifeless which usually means a pitcher is overthrowing and not loose.
Now I’m going to say something that’s going to sound self-serving on my part but it totally isn’t. This past March I had bone chips removed from my elbow and had my triceps tendon repaired.
Now I’m at best, one one billionth the athlete that Santana is and I’m still coming along slowly here. Santana did have bones chips removed this past off season, however his velocity has had a gradual decrease over the past few years.
Professional athletes like Johan Santana have an intense sense of pride and it’s what makes guy’s like Johan so enjoyable to watch and root for. But guys like Johan can also be like my grandmother called me, a capo dost. Italian readers will know what I mean but it means hardheaded.
If something isn’t right with Johan, should he pitch? With so many people criticizing players the past year for not being “gamers” it could play into his thought process, even though he would say no. He’s human. I wouldn’t hold it against him.
But really who knows what the truth really is and more importantly…would we really want to know?
About the Author: Joe Spector
I'm just your regular Joe. Staff writer @ Metsmerizedonline.com. Happily married and a father to a baby girl. I attended my first Met game at the ripe old age of 3 where my father scored a foul ball and had it signed by Lee Mazzilli, Joe Torre and Joe Pignataro. It was my Holy Grail - 'till I buried it in the backyard.
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I share your fears as well, but I felt a little better after reading Waldstein in the Times. Was it just a crazy fluke, or are we seeing a weakened JS?
Last night was so painful to watch–far worse than his implosion against the Skanks last year.
His next two-three starts will tell us a lot.
Last year was unusual for Santana, in that he got off to a ridiculous start. I have watched him begin three years with the mets and his velocity increased each year. I don’t think he is hurt. He may just be less physically. The second elbow surgery may have just diminished his velocity permanently. He may not necessarily be in pain, just less of the pitcher he was. But I will reserve my judgment until at least the end of May. If there are no 92′s, then he has to adjust the speed of his change up downward. And for crying out loud, more sliders, please. If he continues to minimize the slider, then I would suspect that he has pain. Lat night he did not feature it, but he did in his previous outing.
Color me concerned as last night was all too familiar to that disastrous interleague NYY start in July. Seems he was not only avoiding his slider as he’d done in July, he wasn’t finishing off his pitches leaving both heaters & changes up & without any familiar movement. When ASKED DIRECTLY ABOUT DISCOMFORT, JOHAN ADAMENTLY DENIED ANY IN HIS POSTGAME INTERVIEW; BUT WAS HE BEING DISENGENUOUS? I TRULY HOPE NOT! While everyone’s focused on Johan as they were saying similar proclaimations of doom after his Gnats matchupo vs. Livan; the truly disturbing indication to me was the complete lack of discipline displayed by the lineup furiously attempting to cover Johan’s susceptability by everyone abandoning the gameplan as if they were passengers on the Titanic. Reyes was public disappointment #1 attempting to recreate his HR vs Moyer from last yr on every pitch that sniffed the zone. Matthews? Bay? Whatever became of beating Moyer like all soft-tossers going oppo. Hell, last yr’s replacement dregs would’ve fared better. Certainly the Good News is it’s May 2nd & I trust we’ll bve back on top by the end of this next series by both clubs the matchups are very interesting:
NYM @ Cincy STL @ PHL
Perez V. Leake Garcia V. Blanton(1st post d/l start)
Maine V. Arroyo Wainright V. Hamels
Niese V. Cueto Penny V. Kendrick
Again, May 2, not Oct. 2. Plenty of time for Santana & Barajas to regroup & redesign. As an experienced 2ND line mngr, here’s how I’d like to see Jerry address the lineup’s failings, viewing Hojo as the first line mngr re. hitting, I’d ensure the Pleyers overheard his rheaming Hojo for poor prep in facing Moyer & rely on Hoj to pass it onto ther troops. Since they all seem to really like Howard, their collective feeling of responsibility at making him look bad in front of his boss should ensure nonrepeat offense. Thus Jerry keeps his easy rapport with his players while strongly airing his disappointment/displeasure. As Wright always has hojjie’s back u can rest assured he will certainly not reoffend & assert his newfound leadership skills in addressing his peers that do.
WOW – kneejerk reaction at it’s best.
A big loss – I’d say since we are .5 game out of first place on May 3 we shoudl just call it a season………
No way the team can recover from one bad outing.
I say release Santana now………
I didn’t say he was hurt I essentially said, “could it be possible”. That’s not knee jerk it’s just a question. It could have easily been just a really bad outing. For you to conclude that I want to pack it in, now that’s a bit knee jerk don’t you think?
MC Graw seems to like repeating him/herself.
Apparently concern over a Ace whose velocity is undeniably down is just dumb. Why? Who knows. With Santana though velocity is not really what bothers me its control and honesty. Is he really ok? Or is he holding something back on us?
[...] Johan Santana’s Health(metsmerizedonline.com) [...]
As disappointed as I was last night I am not too worry about him. I thought I read somewhere that he was always a better 2nd half pitcher…
Everyone knows that all pitchers get shook up, rocked, trouced, and crushed. However you want to say it, it happens to the best of them. I will join many Mets fans in saying that I am not concerned about Santana’s health.
All pitchers can get soreness in their arms that can occur out of no where that they often neglect to tell trainers about. I’m not saying that Santana is expericing the same problem, but after pitching for my High School, AAU, Travel and Team Connecticut I began having such issues and my coaches have told me that the same has occured with other pitchers through-out there coaching years. There could be some soreness that we are un-aware of. I’m not saying there is, but theres always a possibility.
Anyways, Santana should be just fine. Citizens Bank Park isn’t exactly the most welcoming ball park to pitch in. A few wrongly placed pitches and lost focus can change a game within minutes such as last night.
Lets just sit-back and wait and see what will happen next. It’s all we can do for now.
Great read!
That’s the thing with Johan. You never know how he is feeling. Last year he denied up and down that he was hurt only to have surgery right after the season ended.