One thing that’s great about having an ace pitcher is that you can count on losing streaks to come to a screeching halt every five games or so. Such was the case for the Mets with their superstar pitcher, Johan Santana, destroying the offense of the Washington Nationals. The New York Times reports:

“Santana allowed two runs and seven hits. He struck out four, retiring 9 of his final 10 hitters. As a bonus, he hit two doubles. See Santana hit. See Santana pitch. See Mets win.”

It truly was an outstanding performance by the Mets. There were no errors. They had four stolen bases. The pitching of course was outstanding by Santana, not to mention his two doubles. Talk about earning your paycheck.

The Mets also decided to mix up the batting order a little. Randolph dropped Delgado down to the sixth spot. This paid off with Beltran doubling in the second inning and scoring on an RBI groundout by Delgado.

The fact of the matter is that the Mets are a tough team to beat with Santana on the mound. Let’s hope that for those who buy Mets tickets on the other four nights, that there won’t be any more losing streaks for Santana to break.

One times while managing a retail store I had a sales representative for our company come in and brag about how great he had been a few years previously in the same role. He went on and on about how he beat all of these sales records.

And then he failed to deliver. He turned out to be mediocre at best. Maybe he had broken all of those records in past years, but he certainly wasn’t at the top of his game anymore. More than anything, I realized how he had set our expectations at a level that would be very hard to achieve.

The same goes for Johan Santana. I have no doubt that compared with other paychecks in the League, he’s well deserving of his $137.5 million contract. But what that does is set an extremely high standard. It tells everyone in the franchise and everyone who’s buying Mets tickets that he’s going to be amazing in every game. Talk about pressure.

Speaking of the these expectations, Shaun Powell of Newsday.com says:

“Yes, they want shutouts, strikeouts, maybe a no-hitter if you please, and plenty of good stuff, all the luxuries you’d expect from a two-time Cy Young winner who has the impossible task of making that $137.5 million seem like a bargain. And they want it now, like today, in his second start . . . ”

When all was said and done, Santana asked for it by driving for the contract. I hope he earns it.

So, as everyone willing to buy NY Mets tickets knows, their favorite franchise just spent $137.5 million of their dollars on Johan Santana. Judging by his opening performance in spring training, they may be asking for their money back. He gave away three runs on four hits.

My high school wrestling coach emphasized to us that he wasn’t as concerned whether we won or lost. He was more concerned with how well we performed and progressed as an athlete in the match. The coaching staff for the Mets sounded like they had adopted this same “winning isn’t everything” attitude. Bart Hubbuch at the New York Post quoted Mets pitching coach, Rick Peterson, as saying:

“A very positive day. Johan threw the ball outstanding.”

Santana himself echoed this positive sentiment:

“This is just the beginning. The numbers might say something different, but I felt good.”

Now I realize that there’s more to a performance than the numbers might show. And this is just spring training. He’s getting warmed up. He’s trying new things. He’s getting his groove.

Third basement Troy Glaus says, “He’s still Johan - good fastball, good change-up and good control.”

But I’ve just got to say for the record that these wonderful attributes aren’t going to mean anything if he doesn’t bring real victories in the regular season.

According to the NY Post, Pedro Martinez is trying something crazy during training. He’s pitching occasionally with his eyes shut. He explains:

“It’s to get the feel of your body doing things naturally,” Martinez said. “It helps you mentally. Once you throw with your eyes closed and have no idea where it’s going, it makes it easier to hit the target [when your eyes are open].”

Martinez will be joined this year by Johan Santana, making for a World Series quality team of veteran all-stars. This line-up is expensive, giving them a payroll that may be over 140 million this year. But the great team line-up should prove good for Mets tickets sales which are currently 10 percent above last year.

Expectations are clearly high. With the building of the new stadium, huge salaries on contract, it’s time for the Mets to prove what they’re made of. It’s time for them to have the kind of season that every team is shooting for, but they seem particularly set to achieve.

“We expect to be in the playoffs, and deep into the playoffs,” said Mets CEO, Fred Wilpon. With those kinds of expectations, huge salaries, big ticket sales, this will be a fun season to watch.