Jim Henderson makes his fifth appearance in eight games for Mets. USA Today
After Johan Santana threw 134 pitches on a surgery repaired shoulder to throw the first no-hitter in Mets history, Terry Collins was in tears. He seemed distraught. In the post-game press conference, Collins called Santana his “Hero,” and he was prescient in saying, “I’m very excited for him, but in five days, if his arm is bothering him, I’m not going to feel good.”
As we know, even though Santana would make 10 more starts, his career effectively ended that night. He would need another shoulder surgery in the offseason. Between that surgery and other injuries, Santana has never pitched in another big league game.
When Collins was interviewed by Phil Taylor of Sports Illustrated three years later, Collins expressed his remorse. He would say, “It was without a doubt, the worst night I’ve ever spent in baseball.” Now, no one really knows what effect this game had on the need for Santana to have a second surgery. However, for his part, Collins thinks the no-hitter had a lot to do with it:
“I was aware of what the wear and tear of that night could do to him, and basically, the worst-case scenario happened. To throw that amount of pitches with that much pressure and that much adrenaline going, it can beat you down. And it did.”
If Collins truly believes that, it makes what he did with Jim Henderson all the more indefensible.
Henderson has come a long way to get here. He’s missed the last two seasons because of two shoulder surgeries. He fought against all odds to make the Mets Opening Day roster and it was one of great stories from Mets camp. Not only did he make the roster, but he quickly established himself as a very important part of the Mets bullpen.
So far this year, Henderson has pitched in five of the eight games the Mets have played. On Tuesday night, he threw 34 pitches to register just one out. It was the most pitches he’s ever thrown in one game and he was clearly laboring out there.
Wednesday was a day game. The Mets added Rafael Montero to the roster so the Mets would have a full bullpen for the game and a fresh arm. With the score tied 0-0 in the seventh inning, Collins brought Henderson into the game.
Before Wednesday’s game, Henderson’s fastball averaged 95 MPH. On Wednesday, he was sitting around 90-91 MPH. He allowed a single and then walked the next two batters before Collins pulled him from a game he shouldn’t have entered in the first place. Collins excuse?
TC: "Henderson said before the game that he felt great."
— Steve Gelbs (@SteveGelbs) April 13, 2016
It’s difficult to believe that Collins used this as a justification. He says he is troubled by Santana’s no-hitter, and he thinks it had a profound impact on effectively ending his career. Why would he willingly do the same thing again with another player?
Why would he go to Henderson when there were other, fresher options? Why didn’t he remove Henderson after Martin Prado singled or even after and Justin Bour walked on five pitches and the radar gun was showing his velocity was down 4-5 mph? It doesn’t make any sense.
It should be noted that Collins had a different tone in Wednesday’s press conference than Santana’s. Collins was fired up. There was no hint of him fearing for Henderson’s future. “We went with Jim and obviously it didn’t work out the way we wanted,” he said after the game.
Collins thought this was a must-win game, but it’s a stretch to believe he would sacrifice a player’s health for it. Collins said he was desperate, but there has to be a line. Collins might’ve wanted to respond to people questioning the Mets effort, but putting a player’s health and career in doubt is irresponsible and proves nothing.
At the end of the day, Terry Collins has shown he has learned nothing. While we all understood him leaving Santana in, there was no excuse for pitching Henderson there. Perhaps Mike Vaccaro put it best when he chastised Collins:
Shame on Terry Collins. That wasn't just reckless game managing, but it put his pitcher's health in peril. #Mets
— Mike Vaccaro (@MikeVacc) April 13, 2016
And it wasn’t just Vaccaro, every beat writer expressed shock on Twitter when Henderson came into the game from Anthony DiComo on down. SNY toasted him in the postgame.
Look, Terry Collins has had some nice moments as the manager of the Mets. But Wednesday certainly wasn’t one of them. Collins once called Santana’s no-hitter the worst night of his baseball life… But he clearly showed yesterday that he’s learned nothing from it.
On the positive side the Mets got the win. Hopefully for Jim Henderson he gets that lost velocity back.
