Johan Santana
Johan Santana
Johan Alexander Santana Araqueis a Venezuelan professional baseball starting pitcher who is a free agent. Santana pitched in Major League Baseballfor the Minnesota Twins from 2000 to 2007 and for the New York Mets from 2008 to 2012, sidelined by injury challenges since the 2012 season. A two-time Cy Young Award winner with the Twins, Santana is a four-time All-Star and earned a pitching triple crown in 2006. On June 1, 2012, Santana threw a no-hitter against the St. Louis...
NationalityVenezuelan
ProfessionAthlete
Date of Birth13 March 1979
CountryVenezuela (Bolivarian Republic of)
To see all the fans getting into it, that's pretty special.
When you hear from other players and they're telling you you're the best pitcher in baseball, that makes you feel really good.
We're proud of Venezuela and Venezuelan baseball. People in America don't realize it, but we've got 25, 30 million people here, and so many of us love baseball. This is a great place to look for talent.
My changeup looks like a fastball, but one goes straight and the other goes away from the righthanded hitter. Sometimes it cuts by itself, and I don't know where it's going.
It's good to be compared with Randy Johnson, and it's wonderful to be compared to all the best pitchers in the game.
I don't feel my best right now, but at the same time, I'm not trying to find any excuses or anything.
As a kid, I loved to play centerfield. I loved to make diving catches.
I don't try for strikeouts, but batters just swing and miss. I'd exchange strikeouts for more innings. As a starter, my job is to go deep into the game. When you get strikeouts, you throw a lot of pitches and sometimes you come out early.
I know what to do when they give me the ball. I know what to do to give this team a chance to win.
I'm having fun and I'm not even trying to do much. Everything is coming together.
In order for you to win a game, a lot of things have to go right. Your team has to win. Your team has to perform. When you talk about striking out people or ERA, that's personal stuff and where you show people what kind of pitcher you are.
Today, I think we showed what Latin baseball is all about. That's what we do.