Francisco has struggled in April.
Somewhere in the swirling mess of Saturday’s game against the Giants is a disappointing performance by Frank Francisco. The Mets’ closer let up 2 hits and a walk in the ninth while attempting to protect a 3-run lead. After it was obvious Francisco didn’t have his stuff or his command, he was pulled by Terry Collins in favor of Tim Byrdak, and then Jon Rauch.
Once again this game was fun to watch from the first pitch to the last. Additionally, fans were treated to the double promotion of “Bark in the Park” and Ruben Tejada Day. Continue reading
A rollercoaster of a contest: the Mets threatened early, then petered out, then made it close, then dramatically tied it in the ninth, then lost it in the tenth. If nothing else, they kept your attention. Continue reading
It didn’t seem so long ago that the Mets were in first place and four games over .500. Then, we’ve collectively blinked, and suddenly the Mets are 7-5, tied for second place with the Braves, and not too far ahead of the third-place Marlins and last-place Phillies. Continue reading
I can’t help but feel nervous every time Johan Santana takes the mound. Even after 10 innings of 1 run baseball, in which he struck out 13 batters, my optimism still had a heavy dose of caution. Last night, as I watched batter after batter reach base, my concern wasn’t about the score, but about Santana’s health.
Santana was in the middle of the zone and behind in the count all night. His velocity was consistent with his previous starts – 87-90, suggesting he was physically OK. But I couldn’t help being on pins and needles, waiting for a possible report of bad news from SNY’s Kevin Burkhardt after Johan left the game.
Drawing on his own experiences from the latter part of his career, Ron Darling speculated that Santana couldn’t get warmed up. After the game, however, Santana said he felt loose: “When I warmed up I felt fine.”
The bad start coincided with his return to Atlanta, which is where he made his ill-fated final start of 2010 – the start that put him on the shelf for over a year with a torn anterior capsule of the left shoulder. He said it was on his mind, even as he took the field:
“When I went to the bullpen, I pictured the whole thing,” Santana said. “And even when I walked in to the mound the first inning I pictured it. I looked at the rubber. I was like, ‘OK.’ But, again, I put it away. I just had another short outing here — again. Back to back. Hopefully the next one will be longer.”
In this quote, he says he “put it away.” But as uncomfortable as he looked, it’s easy to think the injury was on his mind. As Joe put it, it looked like he was throwing darts, or aiming the ball, which is something pitchers do when they aren’t loose. If Santana wasn’t loose, was it because he just couldn’t physically warm up, as Darling suggested, or did the lingering thought of September 2, 2010 tighten him up. Perhaps he was as tentative as I was watching him – and I was just sitting on my couch.
Santana is a positive man, and won’t make excuses for his performance, so we may never know for sure how he felt. But I would bet he’s happy to have last night’s start in his rear view mirror.
The good news is, according to everything we hear today from the Mets and Johan, he’s not injured, and on track to make his next start in Lower Downtown Denver, if “he’s strong enough,” according to Terry Collins.
In 2012, we’ll have to take Santana start-by-start and realize that every time he emerges healthy, it’s a victory.
Tough game for the Mets as they dropped to a 7-4 record, but they still remain within striking distance of the league-leading Nationals — only 1.5 games behind with 151 to play. Continue reading
The 2012 Mets have gotten out of the gate with 7 wins in their first 10 games. This is the fourth best start in their history – the 1972, 1985, and 2006 teams went 8-2 in their first 10 games. They continue on with game two of their series in Atlanta tonight.
Blog reaction:
The DOG days aren’t here yet, but Mets Today can HANDLE any news and analysis, even if we get PANned.
(I really apologize for that last sentence…)
With only 152 games to play, the Mets are really putting the pressure on the NL-leading Nationals, this time plowing over the third-place Braves to remain a mere half-game out of first place. Continue reading