It’s just one game.
Unfortunately, that was the Mets ace, Johan Santana. Unfortunately, it came right behind Mike Pelfrey’s also bad game. Unfortunately, it happened on national TV. Unfortunately, it happened against the Phillies.
But one game doesn’t make the season.
Yes, we know “every game counts the same,” but one bad game isn’t going to tank the year. If/When David Wright or Jason Bay go 0-4 with three strikeouts and 8 left on base, we all say, “Just get them next time!” But if Santana goes out and gets shelled, suddenly everyone see the four horsemen riding in ready to destroy the world – or at the very least, the Mets season.
But it’s just one game. If Santana comes out and gets shelled in his next start, I’ll start to worry – quietly and to myself.
If he gets shellacked in his next two, I’ll express my worry.
If he gets pounded in the next three, four or five games, I’m packing it in.
But what we saw last night is the inevitable crapping of the bed by a superstar. Every now and then, they should be allowed to lose, to fail, to underperform.