TDA Bullpen - Our Writers' Blog

Saturday, June 26, 2004

Grip It and Rip It, Johan!

Well, another Saturday evening trip to the Metrodome wasn't in the cards tonight, so no further news on the homerun derby exploits of T.C. I'll keep my eye on the transaction wire to see if he gets signed by Montreal or K.C., though.

I did want to mention that Twins lefty Johan Santana is the first AL pitcher to rack up 100 strikeouts (in 16 starts), making it just ahead of Boston's pair of aces, Pedro Martinez (97 in 16 starts) and Curt Schilling (93 in 15 starts). Santana has gotten there first on the strength of his last two outings, both wins against the Brewers, in which he struck out 22 in 15 innings of work.

Santana got off to a slow start, garnering only one decision in his first seven starts, a 4-3 win over Detroit on April 22. Santana then won his eighth start in a 1-0 victory over Seattle on May 13 before absorbing four straight losses. In that fourth loss, 5-2 to Tampa Bay on June 3, Santana showed signs of coming around but gave up a 2-out, 3-run homer to Aubrey Huff to cap a 4-run sixth inning.

Since then, Santana has been dominant, going 4-0 with a 1.74 ERA in his last four starts, including all three of his 10+ strikeout performances this season. As reported at the Twins site at mlb.com, the turnaround was mainly mental:

'Not coincidentally, Santana's recent dominance is a result of a breakthrough side bullpen session with (Twins Pitching Coach Rick) Anderson nearly four weeks ago. Still finding his feel after off-season elbow surgery, the southpaw had been tentative about fully extending his arm in his delivery.

'"He just didn't want to reach out and get it. He was cutting it off," Anderson said. "That was a mental block he got over."'

With Santana getting past his block, look for him to be among the league leaders in strikeouts and an important piece in the Twins' efforts to win a third straight AL Central crown.

posted by Tom Renbarger 11:39 PM