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How Can It Be An All-Star Game Without Johan?
By J Platt on July 9th, 2008 12:03 AM |
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It’s been 48 hours since Major League baseball announced its rosters for the 2008 Midsummer Classic. 
Since then I’ve looked at the National League roster about 137 times and there was one player’s name I couldn’t find: Mets ace Johan Santana.
Sure, Mets fans could make the argument that Jose Reyes or David Wright (currently second in the Final Vote, trailing the Brewers’ Corey Hart) are more deserving than the Mets’ sole representative, Billy Wagner; I think it’s an injustice that Santana didn’t make the squad.
Okay, maybe injustice is a little too strong of a word. Nevertheless, he should be representing the Mets a week from tonight in the Bronx.
While on paper, Santana’s record doesn’t look very all-star worthy, I beg to differ. Sure, Santana is 7-7 on the year. As unimpressive as that looks, he’s been a victim of run support. His 2.98 ERA ranks 5th in the National League. He’s also 5th in strikeouts (108), 5th in K/BB (3.41), and 7th in WHIP (1.14). His record might be ugly, but it’s obvious he’s putting up all-star numbers.
An argument can be made that the Mets first half struggles hurt Santana’s chances, but I think if anything they should have helped him. Think of how bad the Mets would have been this season if Santana wasn’t a member of the rotation. When the Mets acquired Santana this past off-season, I didn’t think he’d be that much of an impact pitcher, but he’s a big reason the Mets are only a game-and-a-half behind the Phillies.
Unfortunately other players and Clint Hurdle don’t see it my way. The Mets poor first half, not only affected Santana’s record, they also affected an All-Star birth. The only way now Santana will get to take the mound at Yankee Stadium on July 15th is if a pitcher goes down with an injury, and he is chosen as a replacement.
There are currently 6 responses to “How Can It Be An All-Star Game Without Johan?”
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Santana definitely deserves to be on the squad over some other guys, say, Billy Wagner?
I can understand you guys feeling that way because it’s possible that Johan’s two best starts of the season have come against the Phillies. I suppose that shows he steps up in big games, though I’m not sure – it’s a small sample. I’m afraid you’ll just have to take the word of Met fans on this one: Johan’s been no All-Star. His velocity is down, he seems to have scrapped his slider from his arsenal altogether, and more often than not he’s thrown 110 pitches by the 6th inning. I agree that he’s looked like an All-Star against the Phils, but a couple All-Star starts does not an All-Star make.
Most damning, in my book, is the fact that Johan has thus far proven incapable of picking his teammates up when they make errors or poor defensive plays behind him. Last night, Pelfrey induced a groundball that Easley flubbed, then induced a groundball DP ball that the umpire blew the call on. Long story short, Pelfrey found himself with the bases loaded and two men out. Had he given up a grand slam right then, they’d have all been unearned runs, and in the box score the next day his ERA would have been spotless, but anyone who watched the game would have known that he couldn’t buckle down when the chips were down. Pelfrey got out of the jam, however, and pitched great the rest of the way.
Conversely, Santana has given up run after run in identical situations – most notably the grand slam to Felix Hernandez. Santana’s ERA doesn’t reflect it, but quite simply, he has not been all that great. His eight unearned runs lead the staff, and while they may be unearned, they still count on the scoreboard. I think perhaps Fantasy Baseball has altered the way we look at pitchers sometimes. When a reliever comes into a game with the bases juiced and gives it up, those runs don’t show up on his line, but he won’t win himself any friends in the stands or in the dugout. Likewise, a starting pitcher has to be held accountable for the pitches he makes with runners on base, regardless of how they got there. It’s easy to be 7-7 when you lack the intestinal fortitude to pick guys up after errors and misplays.
I’m not saying that Santana hasn’t been a victim of run support – no question, he has – and I’m not saying that I don’t think he’ll improve over time – I think he will – but I am saying, right now, no way, no how, has the guy pitched like an All-Star. If you believe that, you haven’t been paying attention.
I agree Santana is not an All Star. My point was more that Wagner is not an All Star then that Santana is.
Billy Wagner can’t pitch in a big spot and he can’t pitch against the Phillies, but he’s lights out in every other scenario, so what do you do? throw those games out? I mean, he stank this past weekend and he stank during willie’s last week as manager, but if you throw those two weeks out, he’s had three dominant months of baseball. Believe me, Mets fans can’t stand the guy, can’t stand a guy who wilts under pressure, but All-Star honors are about the numbers, and Billy has the numbers. It’s similar to the A-Rod argument. His choke artist performances in the postseason have earned him a lot of detractors – and rightly so – but you can’t ignore his greatness. I’m not comparing Billy to a guy like A-Rod, I’m just saying, it’s a similar scenario where the big knock on the guy is that he’s not clutch and pads his stats in meaningless spots. Billy fits that bill.
You make a fair point.
No doubt about it. Santana earned an All-Star bid, but got robbed by run support… losing by one or two runs to baseball’s best pitchers.