The Starting Line: Johan Santana - 5/6/09
The Starting Line
by Evan "the Censor" Dickens
evan@fantasybaseballsearch.com
Johan Santana v PHI, 5/6/2009
W, 7.0 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 3 BB, 10 K
I was going to write something about Zach Greinke on Monday...but really couldn't come up with any words. It was, and is, hard to put the numbers he is generating into words. After six starts, he is putting up numbers across the board that are phenomenal. He is the darling not just of fantasy, but of sports in general.
But Johan Santana is still the best pitcher in the major leagues. And he's doing it with his team gagging on a spoon behind him.
We've now seen six starts out of both Santana and Greinke. They now share the major league strikeout lead with 54--but Santana has done it in five fewer innings. Greinke's ERA of 0.40 is surely extraordinary, but Santana has now pushed his below 1.00 as well--equally absurd. Both are the only pitchers in the majors other than Dan Haren with a sub-0.90 WHIP. No one would ever complain about either leading their fantasy team--but observe, for a moment, the situations that Santana continues to thrive in.
Wednesday, his team is facing their hated archrivals the Phillies, at their new home Citi Field. It's a playoff atmosphere. Santana's offense, as usual (he now has the fifth-worst run support in the majors, exactly what you want to be doing for your ace), puts up nothing--and he brushed it off, as only he can do, throwing 72% of his pitches for strikes and carving up hitters. Striking out double digits while throwing only 3.7 pitches per batter faced is incredible. And it took until the seventh inning before Phillies errors finally got a run on the board, and the Mets were able to sweat out the 1-0 victory. It is disgusting how poorly the Mets support him, but that's not the point.
Before the season started, there were pundits who thought Santana wasn't even the top-ranked SP anymore. They figured it had to be time for injuries to bite him. They were in love with Lincecum's strikeouts and CC's durability, and somehow glazed over the fact that Santana had just put up a career-high ERA. They laughed at me (sometimes live on the air) when I said Santana was still a first-rounder. How does this 12.25 K/9 rate look now? Wish you had used your first round pick on that instead of Jimmy Rollins? And Santana does this under constant, excruciating pressure for a franchise that provides no run support in a city that grinds and flattens its superstars. And he has yet to bat an eyelash.
I take nothing away from Greinke, he's clearly the best pitcher in the AL right now and the MVP of fantasy considering his draft position (and I don't know how I managed to avoid drafting him in any league). But his city is just happy to be at .500--and his division is terrible. He pitches with no pressure; he's basically freerolling at this point. The fate of the Big Apple and the dramatic circus of the Mets weighs on the shoulders of Johan Santana with every start, and all he does is look better and better every day. He is so obviously the greatest pitcher of his era, and he is in his prime and pitching like an absolute superstar when it matters most. That's why there is still none better than Johan Santana.
~Evan the Censor
by Evan "the Censor" Dickens
evan@fantasybaseballsearch.com
Johan Santana v PHI, 5/6/2009
W, 7.0 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 3 BB, 10 K
I was going to write something about Zach Greinke on Monday...but really couldn't come up with any words. It was, and is, hard to put the numbers he is generating into words. After six starts, he is putting up numbers across the board that are phenomenal. He is the darling not just of fantasy, but of sports in general.
But Johan Santana is still the best pitcher in the major leagues. And he's doing it with his team gagging on a spoon behind him.
We've now seen six starts out of both Santana and Greinke. They now share the major league strikeout lead with 54--but Santana has done it in five fewer innings. Greinke's ERA of 0.40 is surely extraordinary, but Santana has now pushed his below 1.00 as well--equally absurd. Both are the only pitchers in the majors other than Dan Haren with a sub-0.90 WHIP. No one would ever complain about either leading their fantasy team--but observe, for a moment, the situations that Santana continues to thrive in.
Wednesday, his team is facing their hated archrivals the Phillies, at their new home Citi Field. It's a playoff atmosphere. Santana's offense, as usual (he now has the fifth-worst run support in the majors, exactly what you want to be doing for your ace), puts up nothing--and he brushed it off, as only he can do, throwing 72% of his pitches for strikes and carving up hitters. Striking out double digits while throwing only 3.7 pitches per batter faced is incredible. And it took until the seventh inning before Phillies errors finally got a run on the board, and the Mets were able to sweat out the 1-0 victory. It is disgusting how poorly the Mets support him, but that's not the point.
Before the season started, there were pundits who thought Santana wasn't even the top-ranked SP anymore. They figured it had to be time for injuries to bite him. They were in love with Lincecum's strikeouts and CC's durability, and somehow glazed over the fact that Santana had just put up a career-high ERA. They laughed at me (sometimes live on the air) when I said Santana was still a first-rounder. How does this 12.25 K/9 rate look now? Wish you had used your first round pick on that instead of Jimmy Rollins? And Santana does this under constant, excruciating pressure for a franchise that provides no run support in a city that grinds and flattens its superstars. And he has yet to bat an eyelash.
I take nothing away from Greinke, he's clearly the best pitcher in the AL right now and the MVP of fantasy considering his draft position (and I don't know how I managed to avoid drafting him in any league). But his city is just happy to be at .500--and his division is terrible. He pitches with no pressure; he's basically freerolling at this point. The fate of the Big Apple and the dramatic circus of the Mets weighs on the shoulders of Johan Santana with every start, and all he does is look better and better every day. He is so obviously the greatest pitcher of his era, and he is in his prime and pitching like an absolute superstar when it matters most. That's why there is still none better than Johan Santana.
~Evan the Censor
Labels: Johan Santana
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home