Seven Things That Fans Should Know about Ervin Santana

Despite the fact that Ervin Santana has not had an amazing record (now 6-8) so far this year, he pulled out a gem today for his first career no-hitter. He threw 76 of 105 pitches for strikes and compiled 10 strikeouts in the game.

Santana has been in the league since he was 22, so he has become a very familiar name to many baseball fans, but here are seven things that you need to know about him right now.

1. This Was the First No-Hitter by Angels Pitching since 1984.

Okay, I know that this is not directly about Ervin Santana, but it does show the place he has earned in Angels history.

In 1984, Michael Witt threw a perfect game, but that was approximately 27 years ago.

I think that you need to know this fact about Ervin Santana because this is what he will be in the history books for.

2. 8 out of His Last 10 Starts Have Been Quality Starts.

Highlighted obviously by today's outing, he has been on a great roll lately.

On June 10, his ERA was 4.37.

Now, on July 27, his ERA has dropped to 3.47.

Over his past 10 starts, he has had an ERA of 2.55.

Although a quality start is a relatively arbitrary statistic, it illustrates how he has been able to allow fewer runs lately and has caught fire.

If only the Angels could back him up with a few more runs...

3. He Has Gotten No Run Support.

In the month of June, Santana went 0-4 with a 3.48 ERA.

How did he lose every game with a very solid ERA?

Overall this entire season, the Angels have provided him with 3.68 runs of support per game.

This is very close to his ERA of 3.47 which helps show why his record is near .500.

With a little bit more run support, his record would be much better, and he would not lead the Angels in losses.

4. He Threw His Hardest Pitch in the Eighth Inning.

In the eighth inning, he hit 96 miles an hour on the gun.

He has always had an amazing live arm, but I think, as they suggest on ESPN, maybe this was fueled by adrenaline.

Whatever the reason, Santana showed that he has a lot of strength and can definitely overwhelm hitters at the plate with that fastball.

It also shows that he has the power to go deep into games and not lose his velocity.

5. He Is Definitely a 2-Pitch Pitcher.

According to Brooks Baseball, 102 out of his 105 pitches were either a four seam fastball or a slider.

He averaged 93.3 mph on his fastball and 82.72 mph on his slider.

On that slider, 17.65% of them were swung at and missed.

He relies on those two pitches heavily, but apparently they were working and generating a decent number of swings and misses.

I bet the batters were surprised when they saw those three change-ups he threw all day.

6. He Is Not Necessarily a Strikeout Pitcher Even Though He Looked It.

Today's outing was the first time this season that Santana struck out double-digits.

In fact, he has only been in the top 10 of strikeouts per nine innings one time in his career.

He has had a few games like today throughout his career where he gets into double-digits, but normally he seems to get more outs through balls hit into the play (73% of his career outs have been on balls in play).

7. His Real Name Is Johan Santana.

Okay, maybe you already knew this, and I doubt that your life will change much because you know it now, but I figured that it was a fun fact.

He changed it in 2003 when the other one was on top of the baseball world.