I'm stuck at work today (tomorrow too!), and I figured the best way to get back at my boss would be to write a fanpost.

Johan Santana did his best Livan Hernandez impression last night, throwing 121 pitches.  My roommates and I yelled at Jerry Manuel to take Santana out after the 6th inning, but I guess he didn't hear us.  Santana's high pitch count last night made me wonder though.  Manuel got a lot of heat after he took Santana out after 8 innings and 105 pitches in a July 22 game against the Phils that I swear to God did not have a 9th inning, and if you tell me otherwise I will punch you in the ovary.  The next time out Santana went 9, and it seemed to me that Manuel has been reluctant to take out his starters since the July 22 debacle.  Did this criticism cause Manuel to leave his starters in longer?  Before I looked up the stats I thought so, but it turns out that Jerry Manuel did not magically transformed into Dusty Baker after all!  Check it out:

Santana's pitch counts and total innings pitched after 7/22:

118 in 9 IP, 103 in 6.1 IP, 104 in 7 IP, 94 in 7 IP, 113 in 9 IP, and 121 in 9 IP.

AVG = 108.83, MEDIAN = 108.5

Pitch counts and total innings from the start of the season through 7/22:

100 in 7 IP, 91 in 7 IP, 113 in 6.2 IP, 105 in 7 IP, 97 in 7 IP, 114 in 5.2 IP, 116 in 6 IP, 116 in 6 IP, 100 in 7.2 IP, 90 in 7 IP, 110 in 7 IP, 107 in 7.2 IP, 100 in 6 IP, 116 in 7 IP, 95 in 6 IP, 106 in 7 IP, 113 in 6 IP, 95 in 8 IP, 78 in 5 IP, 92 in 4 IP, 105 in 8 IP

AVG = 102.81, MEDIAN = 105, MODE = 100

So on average, Santana is only throwing about 6 pitches more per game than he was before the disaster against Philly.  And the median difference is only about 3 and a half pitches.

If I weren't at work right now I'd break down the numbers to see how if Santana is throwing a slightly greater amount of pitches because he has been more effective or if there's no real reason for the tiny increase.  And I'd love to see if the Mets' other pitchers have been throwing more pitches per game since July 22.  In any case, we can rest assured that - last night aside - Jerry Manuel does not seem to be letting Santana throw an absurd amount of pitches during his starts.  Hopefully the Mets'  current and future managers will keep this up for the rest of the season and throughout Santana's contract.