Former Mets’ pitching coach was on the radio yesterday, speculating that Johan Santana’s struggles could be a result of knee pain. This was news to Johan Santana:
“How does he know that my knee hurts?” Santana rhetorically asked. “That’s the question that I have. You guys tell me how the heck did he find that out....Not even the trainer knows. Not even me. I didn’t know my knee hurts. Just put it that way.
“We got along pretty good,” Santana continued about his relationship with Peterson, “but the reality is he’s not here. I’m the one who feels my body better than anybody, and my knee doesn’t hurt. I don’t know where he got that one from. I’m being honest and realistic: My knee is the last issue here. We took care of that last year (with Oct.1 surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee), and it has nothing to do with what’s going on right now.”
Santana has always been a straight shooter, so there’s no reason not to believe him. Sometimes guys get shelled, even the best of them. No one thought CC Sabathia was hurt when his ERA was over a million last spring, so why is everyone so unwilling to believe that Santana can just pitch poorly from time to time? It happens.
But I am taken by Santana’s comment that “I’m the one who feels my body better than anybody.” In addition to being a straight shooter, he has also always been a class act, so I’m surprised to see him disparaging Mrs. Santana like this.