best pitcher in baseball

red sox already have him.

 

This was in Stark a while ago. Pretty impressive by santana.

As dominating as it getsposted: Friday, November 30, 2007 | Print Entry
filed under: Minnesota Twins, Johan Santana

It seems like a ridiculous question: How great is Johan Santana?

But as the Yankees and Red Sox spend every waking moment attempting to outduel each other for the right to pay this man 150-160 million dollars, we thought we'd ask it anyway:

How great, how dominating, is Santana?

So we took a look at his totally insane numbers. Let's start with this:

• Santana has led the American League in fewest baserunners allowed per nine innings for four straight seasons. So who else, you ask, has done that?

How about nobody?

Lefty Grove led the AL in that category for three straight years, from 1930 to '32. But that's as close as anyone gets in that league.

In the National League, only two pitchers ever did it four years in a row -- Carl Hubbell (1931-34) and Sandy Koufax (1962-65). And that's the whole list.

Pretty good group. In the past 70 years, it's Santana and Koufax. Period.

• But in those same four seasons, Santana also has finished first or second in the league in strikeouts. (And it easily could have been four first-place finishes in a row, if rain hadn't forced him to exit early in his final start this year.)

And that's where Santana separates himself from Koufax and Hubbell.

Koufax slipped to fourth in strikeouts in 1964. Hubbell tumbled to sixth in whiffs in 1934.

So Santana is the only pitcher in history to run off a four-year stretch combining that kind of strikeout domination with allowing so few baserunners to run around.

What about Pedro Martinez? Just missed. He was first or second in strikeouts every year from 1997 to 2000, but he fell to third in baserunners per nine innings in 1998. No other active pitcher is even in the discussion.

• Over these past four years, Santana has averaged more than a strikeout an inning, pitched at least 219 innings in every season and piled up at least 4.5 whiffs for every walk in each of those years. Let's put that in perspective.

The only other pitcher in history to do that four straight seasons was Randy Johnson (1999-2002).

Just one other pitcher in the history of baseball has done that more than one year in a row even -- Curt Schilling (two).

In fact, no American League pitcher has ever had more than one season like that in a row. Not Nolan Ryan. Not Roger Clemens. Not Pedro. Nobody. Amazing.

• Now here's the final thing that astounds us about Santana: He has better numbers as a starter than a lot of closers -- even great closers -- have pitching one inning at a time. Check this out.

CAREER STRIKEOUTS PER 9 INNINGS
Santana 9.50
J.J. Putz 9.14
Huston Street 9.14
Joe Nathan 9.10
Mariano Rivera 8.09


OPPONENT ON-BASE PCT.
Santana .273
Troy Percival .277
Putz .281
Nathan .288
Eric Gagne .290
Bobby Jenks .294
Brad Lidge .304
Jason Isringhausen .317


So is he worth the blood, the sweat, the lost sleep, the money and the kind of players it's going to take to pry him away from the Twins? If you don't think he is, reread those numbers and get back to us.

 

if the sox do get santana, and make the playoffs, who starts game 1?

 

I guess that would depend on the regular season each had and rest, but it would be tough to go against Beckett.

 

rest notwithstanding, some pitchers raise their level of play when it counts most. Beckett has proven himself in that regard. Santana hasn't.

who knows how santana would handle the pressures of pitching in Boston or New York, down the stretch and in the playoffs?

 

Beckett
Santana
Peavy
Oswalt


Those 4 come to mind as the best in whatever order you may like.

 

OK. so the sox gave up Hanley Ramirez and Anibel Sanchez for Beckett and Lowell. It's not as crazy as some would have you believe to offer up Lester or Ellsbury along with crisp, Masterson and Lowrie (and possibly a fifth player) for Santana. not unreasonable by any stretch.

 

If the Redsox get Santana they could have the best two pitchers in the game. Going up against those two back to back in the postseason is a quick 0-2 hole to dig out of.