I'm not saying I feel sorry for Johan Santana. I won't go that far. The star pitcher is in the first year of a six-year, $137.5 million contract with the New York Mets, so it isn't as if he's wondering where his next meal is coming from. On the other hand, Santana has pitched brilliantly for the Mets this year -- his 2.85 earned run average is among the best in baseball -- but he has only a pedestrian win-loss record of 9-7.
The reason for this discrepancy between Santana's sparkling performance and modest record is that six times already this year -- six times! -- Santana has left a game with his team in the lead, but then the bullpen has come in and lost the lead in the late innings. Major League Baseball's rule on whether a pitcher is credited with a win or not is iron-clad: a starting pitcher gets the win if he pitches at least five innings, leaves with a lead and the lead holds up until the end of the game. There are no exceptions. Not infrequently, this creates an absurd result. For example, Santana recently pitched eight nearly-flawless innings, leaving the game just before the ninth inning with a 3-1 lead. In came relief pitcher Aaron Heilman, who promptly surrendered two runs in the ninth inning to tie the score at 3. The Mets won the game in the bottom of the ninth on a two-run home run, but Santana was ineligible to get the win: his 3-1 lead had evaporated in the top of the ninth, so he was credited with a cruel "no decision." Even more cruel, Aaron Heilman, the stiff who nearly lost the game for the Mets, was given the official win, because he was the pitcher still in the game when the Mets rallied in the ninth and cleaned up his mess.
It seems obvious, at least to me, that Santana deserved the win in that game. So why can't he be credited with it? Baseball's hard-line rule should be replaced with something more fair: a rule that allows a starting pitcher who pitches five-plus innings and leaves with a lead to be credited with a win if his team does in fact win the game, whether the bullpen squanders that original lead in the process or not. It's not that difficult, people. A rule like this would leave Santana with a record of 15-7, not 9-7, a much better reflection of how he's pitched this year. And then he could sleep much better at night, knowing he's gotten a fair deal. Just in case his bed full of money isn't comfortable enough.
