21
2012
Fate May Have Dealt Santana And The Mets A Fatal Blow Last Night
An article by 
Yesterday before the game, I referred to Johan Santana’s start last night as both critical and pivotal.
If Johan went out there and stymied the Dodgers with a gem of a performance, then it was imperative for the front office to add a proven and effective reliever for the bullpen, a possible upgrade at catcher, and a right-handed bat with power who could play corner outfield.
However, if Santana failed to produce at minimum a quality start, then the Mets chances to compete for a wild card would be dealt a critical blow.
Unfortunately for both the Mets and us, Santana was painfully awful, and it seems as though fate has delivered a strong and sobering message that any chance for the Mets to make the post season in 2012 could be doomed.
None of this is set in stone of course, but I just don’t see how we can go forward without the same Johan Santana we had for the first two months of this season.
We can’t win this thing with just R.A. Dickey and Jonathan Niese as the only two reliable pitchers in the rotation. The Mets were already handed a tremendous hit when they lost Dillon Gee for the season. Gee may have only been our number five starter, but he was one of the best and he always kept the Mets in games and gave them a chance to win. In 13 of his 17 starts, Gee allowed 3 runs or less. With Santana now essentially lost to in terms of going from staff ace to only God know what, we now have only two reliable options. How can we make a run with that?
In Friday night’s 7-6 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers, the 33-year-old Santana gave up six earned runs on seven hits in three innings. He has now given up 19 earned runs in his last three starts (12.2 IP, 13.50 ERA), and became just the third pitcher in franchise history to give up six or more earned runs in three consecutive starts. What started out as a rags to riches season for Santana is now in tatters.
After the game a somber Terry Collins mulled his options which could include a trip to the day diabled list.
“He came out of the All-Star break, he had eight days of rest, pitched on the ninth day. He just hasn’t responded. So we’re gonna go in here and discuss some options and see what we come up with tomorrow,” Collins said.
“Obviously, when you talk about options, those things will all be brought up. Do you want to skip him one start? If you put him on the DL, you’re talking two starts. All those things are gonna be talked about.”
Santana says he feels OK but that confidence and swagger we’ve come to expect from him is now gone.
“I don’t feel my best right now, but at the same time, I’m not trying to find excuses. I’m just not executing my pitches. I’m not commanding my fastball,” Santana said.
The left-hander now finds himself at a tipping point with a 6-7 record and a 3.98 ERA.
A few days ago I posted on his deteriorating effectiveness since tossing his career-high 134-pitch no-hitter on June 1. Back then we dreamed of a potential Cy Young season for Santana, but how quickly the tables have turned on us.
Without our ace, our chances for winning one of those wild card spots could be doomed for good.
Barring a miracle that sees prospect Matt Harvey come up and deliver a Gooden-esque debut, I just don’t see a way forward. It would take a herculean effort by Harvey and the fact is that he’s simply not that good, and on top of that he may not even be ready. It was one thing to want Harvey to come up and replace our number five starter, but replacing our ace? No way, no how.
Last night’s game was as crucial and as pivotal as I had warned, and destiny may have handed down a possible death sentence to our 2012 season.
About the Author: Joe DeCaro
I'm a lifelong Mets fan who loves writing and talking about the Amazins' 24/7. From the Miracle in 1969 to the magic of 1986, and even the near misses in '73 and '00, I've experienced it all - the highs and the lows. I started Mets Merized Online in 2005 to feed my addiction. Follow me on Twitter @metsmerized.
13 Comments + Add Comment
Recent Comments
- Donal: on So Where Are All Those Moneyball Players?: 2011 The bullpen was already bad and...
- Mike Lloyd: on MLB Scout On Davis: Would Have Been Better Served Going To Minors Last Season: Ike Davis, whom I like, can't stop...
- Metsie: on 3 Up & 3 Down: The Bar Is Now Open Edition: As I predicted after Two Punts in...
- Alex68: on So Where Are All Those Moneyball Players?: ALL OF THIS ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^ ...
- philipag: on So Where Are All Those Moneyball Players?: Omar was, and is foremost, a scout...
MMO Mets Chat
Need Tickets To The Mets Game?
Check Out These Great MLB Links!
Photographs From Gordon Donovan
5391 Fans Follow Us On Twitter!
1269 Fans Like Us On Facebook!
2341 Fans Read Our Feed!
1702 Fans Subscribe via Daily Email!
Too early to be looking at this as the fatal blow, IMO.
In reality though, we were predicted to finish last for a reason. Might very well be our fate. Anything above that – every game above. 500 – is all gravy to me.
The reason we were predicted to finish last is b/c going in, our SP just didn’t measure up to the rest of the NL east rotations. Without an effective Santana, with Gee out for the season, that may very well be the case now.
I agree with you too early to give up. We have Grienke available out there and Ryan Dempster either of whom would give us a bonafide ace and if Santana in the meantime gets through his dead arm period, then everything is looking pretty damn good.
Beato and Edgin have looked good in the pen, Francsico is coming back and was doing well before he got hurt, all we need is to add one decent reliever and push Parnell back to 7th inning duties and the bullpen will also be fine.
Murphy and Ike are already looking l;ike their slumps are behind them and we got this far largely without them. Then you have Valdespin. The Wild Card is a GO!
Succinctly, we can win if most guys on the team hit .240 or below, but we cannot win if 3/5s of the starting rotation have a +4 ERA. In the latter case, we’d be lucky to finish at or near .500
Not giving up yet, but your take on SP is decidedly sobering.
I thought the SP depth was going to be the weakness going into this season. Unfortunately the BP stood up and shouted “Me! Me!”. But now, Santana is starting to pitch how most imagined he would, injuries have reared their ugly heads and the one thing on this team that was driving it along towards a possible WC berth is gone. A faltering SP and a mushroom cloud of a BP is not a formula for wins.
My guess is that Santana gets one more start, and if he stinks it up will be DL’d with shoulder fatigue or something like that. And we get to see both Bautista and Harvey in the same rotation!
Well I’m going to fall back on my original suggestion for Santana before the season.
Put him in the Pen!
Reduce the wear on his arm, Reduce the innings he has to play.
Trading for another starter would be required but doing that would help us a lot more than just this year.
You can always put Santana back into the Rotation when he sorts himself out next season.
I personally think he has lost another 3 MPH on his Fastball from earlier in the year but I don’t have the dataset to prove that.
But I would not give up on the season just yet.
As long as we don’t trade away Harvey and Wheeler making deals can’t really hurt us in the future.
So to just say it’s done, and lets just stand pat with what we have and deal with it in the offseason seems dumb, especially considering how aggressive this FO has been the past two offseasons.
Sure you can blame Wilpon’s lack of money for that but you would be fooling yourself. Sandy doesn’t think free agents are worth the money unless they are dirt cheap and off the reclamation pile!
It worked for Smoltz, but Santana would have to be amenable to the idea. I just cannot imagine Santana thinking this would be good for him, or for the team, but…
Well he sure would accept that before a placement on the DL for some phantom shoulder injury…
This would be a case where Warthen has to earn his keep.
I’m not even suggesting it has to be permanent or for the rest of the year.
And it probably would depend totally on getting another starter.
I just think if we get that Santana could for the short term fix our BP issues while reducing his workload so that he can work out his issues and get ready for next year.
Fellow Mets fans, I don’t believe Johan Santana is through, even though I commented in the last few days that the June 1st no-hitter cost him dearly and that he is now a lost soul. I can see where it’s a confidence issue and that major league hitters can treat an 88-mph fastball like batting practice. I’d like to see a fine performance today from Batista. Is that asking for too much?
I don’t think he is done either…
I think reducing his workload is probably a good idea until he builds up his strength and gets some life back on his fastball.
Truth is what is most likely going on is the batter adjusted to what he was doing early and he needs to make an adjustment. He has lost the ability to bust batters inside, he tried vs Kemp and kemp turned on it.
Santana has always relied on pitching inside.
Since he has lost a little velocity since the injury (doesn’t mean it is gone for good) he has to adjust his pitching to what he has.
And it could take some time.
Only Question is where do you want him to work that out, the rotation where he could expose us by forcing us to use the pen while also wearing him out or the pen where he can be good for an inning or two and continue to help us when others are pitching.
I think the 15 days off will serve Johan well. He can think about his game plan, gain some arm strength, and of course get that ankle back to 100%.
I must say something. When I first saw the way that ankle twisted on the many replays during that Cubs game, I was SHOCKED it wasn’t something more serious. The other player stepped on it while it was turned and full force. That he only missed 2 days shocked me.
Clearly now we know he was rushed back far too soon. His ankle will heal, but I hope his confidence does too.
Tough to have Santana go on the dl right now. On the other hand if he indeed returns in 2 weeks with a less fatigued shoulder pitching like he had before the ankle incident and the team is still in a playoff hunt shutting him down will be well worth it.
Hefner is here as a bullpen arm I read and a decision on who will take Santana’s next start doesn’t exclude Matt Harvey of yet. Barring something unforeseen I guess there is a chance we can expect Batista & Harvey for the next 2 weeks at least in the rotation then if and when Santana gets back he replaces one of those 2 starters.
Shame Gee got hurt.Bigger shame that Wilpons own team and MLB’s stooge Alderson is our GM.I f I hear one more thing about how great we are going to be in 2013 and 2014 I am going to puke.What If Harvey or Wheeler or Familia get hurt or are not as good as advertised?What is our plan B?Wait for 2015 and 2016?
Santana was not the ace of the staff before last night, but if they cannot get even a decent start (6 inn. +-) out of him then the Mets probably are doomed. Filling 3spots in the rotation with what’s available in or out of house is not likely.