May 11, 2009, Johan Santana feature for Metro (NY) Newspaper
Playing with fire
Santana’s teammates still in awe of Mets’ flamethrower
Carlos Delgado thought he’d seen it all in 16 years in the bigs.
Then came last Wednesday’s 1-0 win over the world champion Phillies.
“He’s great. He brings unbelievable energy to the game, on and off the mound. Even in the dugout. He’s yelling and he’s fired up,” Delgado said.
He, of course, is Mets ace Johan Santana. And he may be in the midst of authoring the greatest individual season for a starting pitcher in franchise history.
“He’s awesome. He goes out there, pitches seven innings and punches out 10,” said Delgado, describing Santana’s exact numbers from last week’s outing against Philadelphia.
Fifteen months after the Mets traded for him, Santana has been an absolute steal. Only one of the four players the Mets gave up in that deal has cracked a major-league roster. Compare that to Santana, who has turned his starts into appointment viewing with a 4-1 record this season and an NL-leading 0.91 ERA. Either on television or in person, his starts are must-see.
“This is pretty special,” Delgado said. “I had the opportunity to play with Roger Clemens [in Toronto] when he won back-to-back Cy Youngs, and he was pretty much like this.”
Actually, it’s uncertain if anyone’s been like this. Less than a handful of pitchers this season have less run support than Santana, who is backed by 2.27 runs an outing.
“Anytime you score with Johan on the mound, you have a pretty good shot of winning,” said third baseman David Wright. “That’s just dominance.”
The Mets hope to give their ace more run support tonight against Atlanta. Santana, surprisingly, is 0-3 with a 2.76 ERA all-time against the Braves.
Still, if the Mets rack up at least one run for their starter, it could very well be enough for their eighth-straight win.
“I’m feeling pretty good,” Santana said in the understatement of the year.
With him on the mound, so are the Mets.
posted by Denis P. Gorman at 9:31 AM
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