Happy Hiroki Kuroda Day!

After  nearly two weeks on the road, that's just what I needed on a lazy Thursday afternoon: A Yankee matinee, featuring the league's best starting pitcher.

Some others in New York might disagree. Mets fans will greet each other, "Happy Matt Harvey Day" on the day their All-Star pitcher is scheduled, the way Alabama fans greet each other "Roll Tide." But since Harvey isn't even the best pitcher in his city, I say Happy Hiroki Kuroda Day.

In 100+ degree heat in Texas, Hiroki Kuroda gave us 7 shutout innings (for the 7th time this season) and made the Yankees anemic offense look good enough in a 2-0 win.

While the Yankees plod along at 54-48, averaging under 4 runs a game, alternating Lyle Overbay and Vernon Wells as their cleanup hitters, and ace CC Sabathia (9-8, 4.37) has been unreliable, Kuroda has been the team's MVP.

Nobody will gravitate to Kuroda for Cy Young because of his 10-6 record, despite a 2.51 ERA that's 2nd in the AL. But the less than stellar Won-Loss mark deserves closer examination.

> On April 20 in Toronto, Kuroda gave up just 1 ER in 7.1 IP. David Robertson blew the lead in the 8th before the Yankees won in 11 innings.

> On May 28, Kuroda outdueled Matt Harvey for 7 innings, but Mariano Rivera blew the sane in the 9th and the Mets won 2-1.

> On July 7, Kuroda gave the Yankees 7 shutout innings (again), but Rivera gave up a home run to Adam Jones in the 9th in a loss to Baltimore. Rivera's swansong season has been glorious, he's 33 for 35 in save opportunities, but both fiascos have come at Kuroda's expense.

So Kuroda should really, legitimately, be 13-6. And in the 6 losses, the Yankees have scored a grand total of 10 runs, so maybe a couple of those should be wins as well.

And he carries himself like an ace with presence and swagger, on a staff that boasts prolific types like Sabathia, Rivera, and Andy Pettitte.

It's going to be a tough job for the Yankees the rest of the way with 60 games to go. They're 6 games back in the AL East, and 3 games out of an AL Wild Card Playoff. But it's good to know that once every 5 days the man is on the mound.

Cost Benefit Analysis: Johan Santana's No Hitter

On June 1st, 2012, ace left-hander Johan Santana pitched the only no-hitter in the 50-year history of the New York Mets. It was a cause for celebration for a franchise so renowned for their pitching, yet unable to ever complete 9 no-hit innings.

But was the moment worth the (presumed) consequences? Santana, a 2-time Cy Young Award winner, was 33 years old that night against the Cardinals. He had already missed the entire 2011 season with a shoulder injury. He threw a career-high 134 pitches to achieve the unforgettable.

Manager Terry Collins had to know his starter was fragile, but he was also pushed by the Mets' dubious distinction. It would be hard to find a manager to pull the plug in that situation. Well, maybe the Washington Nationals would have, and no doubt would've been bombarded by criticism.

Collins stuck with Santana, and New York had a party. But then there was the hangover. Santana went 3-7 in his next 10 starts before being shut down for the season in mid-August. Now it looks like this season will be lost with a tear in the same shoulder.

There's no hard evidence to suggest that throwing 134 pitches on a single night 10 months ago is alone responsible for the shutdown of Santana's career. He had a history of arm problems, and being a Major League pitcher seems to be a dangerous profession for one's throwing arm.

But here's the hard data: in his 6 seasons with the Mets (including this one), Santana will have gone 46-34. He was brilliant at times, but never pitched in a postseason game. His $137.5M contract games out to just under 3 Million per win.

If you're one to believe credit card ads on TV, Santana's no-hitter was "priceless," which is nice to say, but the Cost Benefit Analysis says otherwise.