The Mets had some particular visitors in the home on Tuesday evening.
With Wednesday being the 10-year anniversary of Johan Santana’s no-hitter — the one particular person no-hitter within the crew’s historical past — the previous Amazin’ left-hander was at Citi Field on Tuesday together with Josh Thole, his catcher that evening, and his ex-manager Terry Collins. The three fielded questions — and barbs from Buck Showalter, as Santana was requested if he may give him an inning — earlier than Santana’s son threw the ceremonial first pitch to Thole’s son.
The man who threw the legendary recreation mentioned that on the time, he had no concept he was going to be the primary Met to do it.
“I didn’t know that there had never been a no-hitter,” Santana revealed. “As we were going through the whole thing, I started getting all excited. The atmosphere changed throughout the whole field. I was thinking, ‘Maybe this is it. We have a chance to do something very special, very important.’ It just happened to be the night. I feel very blessed to have the opportunity to do the first one.”
An unlucky facet impact of that evening was that Santana needed to throw 134 pitches to get it executed, a quantity he can nonetheless immediately recall. Collins was requested if he has any regrets over that, particularly since Santana solely made 10 MLB begins (with an 8.27 ERA as well) after that and handled ugly shoulder issues.
“I would make the same decision,” Collins emphasised. “I felt he deserved the opportunity to try and get it because of who he is and what he stands for. The people who were in the stands, they deserved to have that opportunity. I know it probably hurt him, from throwing that many pitches, but I’ve come to realize that I probably would have done exactly the same thing.”
The sentiment between each Santana and Collins is that, had the supervisor tried to take away him, Santana would have put up an enormous struggle.
“I knew I was going to have some arguments with him,” Santana mentioned, pointing to Collins. “On the mound, in the dugout, in the parking lot, whatever. I just wanted to finish it.”
Santana mentioned the one different time he ever threw a no-hitter, at any stage, was in a online game. But with an old-school supervisor within the dugout who felt everybody within the constructing deserved to observe an opportunity at historical past, plus the Mets not having a no-hitter to their title on the time, Collins’ determination was closely swayed.
“That became part of it,” Collins admitted. “Here’s a guy that’s got a chance to do it. I thought he deserved the opportunity. Obviously today, I probably wouldn’t even consider it.”
When the Mets completed a mixed no-hitter earlier this 12 months — accomplished by Tylor Megill, Drew Smith, Joely Rodriguez, Seth Lugo and Edwin Diaz — Thole mentioned he was getting texts calling him “chopped liver” now that he’s not the lone Met to catch a no-no. To nobody’s shock, Collins nonetheless likes the one which he managed a little bit higher.
“To have five guys do it, I think is great,” Collins started. “But to have one guy do it, that’s something special. And he did it.”
LINDOR WINS PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Francisco Lindor’s large week in opposition to the Giants and Phillies was rewarded with some recognition from the league.
Lindor was given the National League Player of the Week honor, his first as a Met, after posting a .348/.407/.870 slash line with 10 runs, eight hits, two doubles, two triples, two dwelling runs and 14 RBI within the crew’s six video games with San Francisco and Philadelphia.
He is the primary Met to win the award since Noah Syndergaard in August 2019.
J.D.H.
With Dom Smith being despatched to the minor leagues, the Mets are with out one of many main gamers they’ve used at designated hitter. JD Davis has probably the most begins there, with Pete Alonso coming in second and Smith third. Now that Smith — who was additionally Alonso’s backup at first base — is within the minors, Showalter was requested if he’ll use Jeff McNeil at DH extra usually. McNeil has some normal “wear and tear” on his legs that the Mets have been cautious with, and he additionally crashed right into a wall in San Francisco final week whereas enjoying left area.
“I think you’ll see more DH chances for JD [Davis],” Showalter mentioned, insinuating that McNeil will nonetheless play quite a lot of protection. “We’ll see what each day brings. We’ve got a challenging, long road trip coming up.”
MEGILL ON THE WAY BACK
Tylor Megill confronted reside hitters on the sphere earlier than Tuesday’s recreation. The pitcher has been out since May 11 with tendonitis in his proper biceps. In three simulated innings in opposition to gamers the Mets introduced in from their High-A affiliate in Brooklyn, Megill ticked lots of the containers that Showalter was on the lookout for.
“[Megill] looked good,” Showalter mentioned. “I was really impressed with the inning I saw. We’ll see how he recovers before we go forward with a plan. It’d be nice to get him back.”
()
Source: www.bostonherald.com