Johan Santana threw the first no-hitter in Mets history last night and boy his arm must be tired! He tossed a career high 134 pitches. The game was Johan’s second consecutive shutout versus what many to believe to be one of the leagues best offenses in St. Louis. It was the first no-hitter for the 33-year old Venezuelan hurler, but more importantly perhaps, it ended the Mets 50 year span without a no-hitter! Mets Hall of Famer Tom Seaver had previously taken 3 no-hit games into the ninth inning and was unable to finish, but Johan broke the curse tonight! The first of many! I can only imagine how many no-hitters the Mets will pitch now that they’re over that hump. Quick everyone pick up Jeremy Hefner! (*Pro tip!* Don’t pick up Jeremy Hefner).
Johan the MANtana gained only his 3rd win of the season with the no-no but he has been shades of his old self all year long. Large shades even. Wacky clown sized shades. Johan Santana has always been a personal favorite of baseball fans, and his injury history has been very unfortunate. But back in his Minnesota days there was no one better than the two-time Cy Young winner. Many say Adam Dunn has been the year’s biggest comeback story but Johan has been just as good of late. If you own him you probably got him late in the draft or off free agency so he has provided great value. Since his poor shortened performance (1.2 IP, 4 ER) back on April 17th against the Braves, Santana has thrown at least 6 innings with 5+ Ks in every game. He is also unbeaten in this 8 game stretch with 3 wins! Don’t get me wrong, the K’s (the glorious Ks!) are great, but it’s that Johan is pitching so deep into these games that really gives me flashes of the old Johan–or is it the young Johan? The no-no lowers his ERA to 2.38 on the season to put him in the top 10 in the league, and calling the pitcher friendly confines of Metco his home certainly isn’t hurting. His value is likely at his peak right now so I wouldn’t go out and overpay for him considering his age and injury history. But this is a guy that even if I can’t own in fantasy. I’m just as happy to watch him succeed. (*Cough I totally own him!).
Here’s what else happened Friday night in fantasy baseball:
Lucas Duda – 1-for-3 with a HR and 4 RBIs. Dud-a bides. Insert your favorite Lebowski quote here. You don’t Mets with the Lucas! Ha!
Adam Wainwright – Got lit up for 7 ER in 6.1 innings. Ugh. It was a real juicy match up against the Mets, too! Just when he was starting to turn it around. Quoted Adam’s mother, Mrs. Wainwright, “You call your fantasy owners right now and apologize, Adam!”
Jason Kipnis – 2-for-5 with a grand slam and legs! Jason now has 16 hits in his last 10 games, with 3 homers and 7 steals! Witness the Kipnis! The average and power are great but it’s the speed that makes me drool. Who knew this guy would be so good? Oh yeah, Grey. He told you to buy him. Thanks Grey.
Lonnie Chisenhall – 3-for-4 also with the slam and legs but this time with the side of mash (3 hits)! Grey told you to pick him up yesterday if you needed corner help. Remember what he said about Kipnis? Well, go ahead. I’ll wait.
Derek Lowe – Got his 7th win and lowered his ERA to 3.06. If I owned a 7-win pitcher my blood pressure wouldn’t be so high. Still his 20 strikeouts on the season is like, “Meh.” I’ll let someone else pick him up.
David Price – 7.1 IP, 5Ks, 0 ER. The Price was just right tonight as he handed the O’s their 6th straight loss. Orioles, it’s been fun, but I think it might be O-ver.
Felipe Paulino – 6.0 IP, 3 H, 5 Ks. I know, it was just the A’s. And I know, he pitches for the Royals. But this guy needs to be owned in more than 50% of leagues, right? Fantasy owners, you know what to do.
Gordon Beckham – 2-for-5 with 2 HRs and 3 RBIs as the South Side Sox roll to their ninth straight win. Donkey hit his 17th homer, Peavy pitched well and Reed notched his 7th save. Beckham has now hit safely in 8 straight games and has collected a hit in 13 of his past 15 games. I am starting to think about considering the possibility of maybe considering picking him up.
Kyle Seager – 2-for-4 with a HR and 3 RBIs as he bats third. Ichiro lead off for the first time all season. Wait–one of the best lead off hitters in baseball in the past 15 years is leading off again? Crazy!
Jay Bruce – 2-for-4 with a HR and 2 RBIs. After batting .229 in May it looks like Bruuuuce is finally coming alive again. Talk about a streaky player; I guess I can stop trying to trade him for now. JK, I Luv U, JB.
Aroldis Chapman – Struck out the side for his 4th save. Oh yes, you are good.
Clay Buchholz – 8.0 IP, 2 ER, 7 Ks and his 5th win. Now has 2 quality starts in a row! Clay scares the shizz out of me but I’ll bet a buck if he holds the Orioles (I know, bad joke) to less than 3 Rs next week I’ll get him on my fantasy radar.
Adrian Gonzalez – 3-for-5 with 2 RBIs. A-Gone never left the park tonight but the 3 hits are nice. I still think some power is coming. Or maybe, I still hope the power is coming?
Daniel Nava – 4-for-5 with 3 Rs. Nava has been at the top of the Red Sox lineup lately and even lead off twice last week. If Pedroia misses any serious time, he might find himself batting second a lot and could be a nice source of runs. And that Nava hurts!
Hunter Pence – 3-for-4 with 2-R homer. Hunter’s prey was Mark Buehrle as the Phillies shelled him for 11 hits. I originally had a pretty decent joke for this Pence blurb that involved Snow White and the Evil Queen, but Kristin Stewart ruined it.
Logan Morrison – 1-for-5 with a HR. If you watch this homer by LoMo in SloMo, you can see him tweeting it between 2nd and 3rd.
Curtis Granderson – 2-for-4 with the slam and legs and a grand salami! Mmmmm…now I need an omelette.
Alex Rodriguez – 1-for-5 with a HR. The homer came with the Yankees leading 7-4 with 2 outs in the ninth inning. A-rod is the un-clutch.
Jose Tabata – 2-for-3 with 3 RBIs and a stolen base. Sonavabench! Tabata Bing!
Dexter Fowler – 3-for-5 with 2 runs and 2 RBIs. Dexter has been a serial killer of opposing pitchers lately with 14 hits in his last 6 games! He’s as hot as anyone right now and if he’s still on your waiver wire he definitely could be worth picking up.
Michael Cuddyer – 2-for-4 with the slam and legs and 4 runs scored as the Rocks rolled past the Dodgers with 10 runs on 15 hits.
Madison Bumgarner – 8.0 IP, 2 ER, 11Ks. What was this guy on? Because he has been smoking lately! And Tim Lincecum wants some. Bumgarner carried a shutout into the ninth but had some trouble, giving up two hits. Santiago Casilla replaced him and gave up a 3-run home run to Alfonso Soriano and eventually left with a knee injury. Javier Lopez got the save.
Mike Trout – 2-for-4 with 2 RBIs. He really is an Angel, sent from the minors leagues to lead Los Angelheim to the Promised Land. I think…I love him a little?
