Anthony Santander 2022

[OsFanSinceThe80s]

It's still way too early to draw any conclusions, but Santander is off to a hot start and he's getting on base at a higher rate this season. Santander has drawn 5 walks in 19 plate appearances. This is compared to drawing 23 walks in 438 plate appearances in 2021. 

Let's say Santander improves to drawing walks in 10% of his plate appearances, it will translate into 44 walks if he matches last year's number of plate appearances. It's something to keep an eye on and it will help with Santander's trade value if he really has become a more selective hitter. 

https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/s/santaan02.shtml

[Just Regular]

Santander early is swinging very little, even at strikes - just 13th of 194 qualifiers at Z-Swing%.

I think there is probably some Fuller-Borgschulte signal in that noise, something to monitor in Week2.

Other Week1 patient sluggers being even choosier about the strikes they want to try and crush so far...Schwarber, Torkelson, Aguilar, Donaldson.

https://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=all&stats=bat&lg=all&qual=y&type=5&season=2022&month=0&season1=2022&ind=0&team=0&rost=0&age=0&filter=&players=0&startdate=2022-01-01&enddate=2022-12-31&sort=4,a

 

[MurphDogg]

Always wanted to see a player start wearing glasses and instantly improve, à la Rick Vaughn in Major League.

[Spy Fox]

The broadcast last night mentioned that Santander has 10 walks already, which is equal to his 2020 total in 37 games. It's also almost half of last year's total in 110 games. 

[Just Regular]

16 hours ago, MurphDogg said:

Always wanted to see a player start wearing glasses and instantly improve, à la Rick Vaughn in Major League.

Reynaldo Lopez 2021 kind of did the deal.

https://www.sportsmockery.com/chicago-white-sox/an-eye-procedure-helped-turn-around-reynaldo-lopezs-career/

Being very fanciful, seeing bespectacled Santander in Oakland gave me a little bit of a Reggie Jackson vibe.

[MurphDogg]

Alas

[Frobby]

Dan Connolly has a long article on Santander in The Athletic today, that would be worthy of its own thread if it weren’t behind a paywall.   Here’s a few tidbits:

- His parents live with him in Baltimore.

- He’s an excellent cook.

- He owns an agribusiness in Venezuela.

- He was an excellent student, especially in math and science.

And here’s a couple of quotes:

Slender with a strong right arm, Santander was viewed as one of the best young pitchers in his country in his early teens. But he injured his right elbow and began playing primarily outfield. Independent Venezuelan scouts knew the kid could hit, but there was some concern initially with the arm, so they got creative. One handed him a left-hander’s glove and had him throw and catch with his opposite hand. His right elbow ultimately improved after a few months, but the switch-hitting Santander came close to becoming a fully ambidextrous player.

“I was able to throw the ball hard to second base (left-handed). I knew it was gonna take a lot of time to get that arm ready,” Santander said. “But at that age I was so athletic, maybe if I had a year and a half, I would have been able to throw well with both hands.”

===

On this offseason: “Baseball players tend to be big and slow,” Santander said. “I’m still young and I don’t see me as a DH, so I said, ‘OK, I need to be an athlete again. I need to be fast and quick in the outfield.’”

His offseason regimen started with 40 minutes of stretching and mobility drills before the daily workouts began. Twice a week he’d do yoga. His trainers presented drills that would increase first-step explosion and side-to-side quickness. He dropped roughly 12 pounds, even after adding in his typical weightlifting exercises. He’s still stretching extensively before every workout and weighs himself every day to make sure he’s around 222 pounds.

“I feel amazing,” Santander said. “I did a great job in the offseason. Now it’s time to keep this same routine and give my 100 percent on the field.”

===

He clearly is seeing the ball better in 2022, literally and figuratively. He’s been wearing glasses at times during the early season, and he’s also been staying off pitches he doesn’t think he can drive. It’s a philosophy that new hitting coaches Ryan Fuller and Matt Borgschulte have stressed, and it’s worked so far for Santander. Especially when it comes to getting on base. His .421 OBP is in the Top 10 in the AL and his 14 walks are second in the league. His current 18.4 percent walk rate is three times higher than his career-best of 6.1 in 2020, and he’s reached base safely in all 18 games this year.

“I feel like I’m seeing the pitches really good, but this is a game of adjustments. You aren’t gonna hit every day,” Santander said. “But my goal is to be 100 percent on every pitch. Do what I can control and swing at good pitches. We’re working with hitting coaches that have a philosophy I like. And I think we’re all gonna take advantage of that and, as a group, we’re gonna have a good year.”

https://theathletic.com/3277129/2022/04/28/the-many-talents-some-hidden-of-orioles-outfielder-anthony-santander/?source=dailyemail&campaign=601983

There’s a lot more in the article.   It’s almost worth the price of a month’s subscription by itself.

 

 

 

 

 

[Aristotelian]

If he could maintain above average OBP that would be a huge boost to his profile. 

[btdart20]

48 minutes ago, Frobby said:

...he’s also been staying off pitches he doesn’t think he can drive. It’s a philosophy that new hitting coaches Ryan Fuller and Matt Borgschulte have stressed, and it’s worked so far for Santander. Especially when it comes to getting on base. His .421 OBP is in the Top 10 in the AL and his 14 walks are second in the league. His current 18.4 percent walk rate is three times higher than his career-best of 6.1 in 2020, and he’s reached base safely in all 18 games this year.

“I feel like I’m seeing the pitches really good, but this is a game of adjustments. You aren’t gonna hit every day,” Santander said. “But my goal is to be 100 percent on every pitch. Do what I can control and swing at good pitches. We’re working with hitting coaches that have a philosophy I like. And I think we’re all gonna take advantage of that and, as a group, we’re gonna have a good year.”

Love the buy-in and partnership.  Many guys in the org seem to have really made an attempt to apply this approach.  

[bobmc]

1 hour ago, Frobby said:

Dan Connolly has a long article on Santander in The Athletic today, that would be worthy of its own thread if it weren’t behind a paywall.   Here’s a few tidbits:

- His parents live with him in Baltimore.

- He’s an excellent cook.

- He owns an agribusiness in Venezuela.

- He was an excellent student, especially in math and science.

And here’s a couple of quotes:

Slender with a strong right arm, Santander was viewed as one of the best young pitchers in his country in his early teens. But he injured his right elbow and began playing primarily outfield. Independent Venezuelan scouts knew the kid could hit, but there was some concern initially with the arm, so they got creative. One handed him a left-hander’s glove and had him throw and catch with his opposite hand. His right elbow ultimately improved after a few months, but the switch-hitting Santander came close to becoming a fully ambidextrous player.

“I was able to throw the ball hard to second base (left-handed). I knew it was gonna take a lot of time to get that arm ready,” Santander said. “But at that age I was so athletic, maybe if I had a year and a half, I would have been able to throw well with both hands.”

===

On this offseason: “Baseball players tend to be big and slow,” Santander said. “I’m still young and I don’t see me as a DH, so I said, ‘OK, I need to be an athlete again. I need to be fast and quick in the outfield.’”

His offseason regimen started with 40 minutes of stretching and mobility drills before the daily workouts began. Twice a week he’d do yoga. His trainers presented drills that would increase first-step explosion and side-to-side quickness. He dropped roughly 12 pounds, even after adding in his typical weightlifting exercises. He’s still stretching extensively before every workout and weighs himself every day to make sure he’s around 222 pounds.

“I feel amazing,” Santander said. “I did a great job in the offseason. Now it’s time to keep this same routine and give my 100 percent on the field.”

===

He clearly is seeing the ball better in 2022, literally and figuratively. He’s been wearing glasses at times during the early season, and he’s also been staying off pitches he doesn’t think he can drive. It’s a philosophy that new hitting coaches Ryan Fuller and Matt Borgschulte have stressed, and it’s worked so far for Santander. Especially when it comes to getting on base. His .421 OBP is in the Top 10 in the AL and his 14 walks are second in the league. His current 18.4 percent walk rate is three times higher than his career-best of 6.1 in 2020, and he’s reached base safely in all 18 games this year.

“I feel like I’m seeing the pitches really good, but this is a game of adjustments. You aren’t gonna hit every day,” Santander said. “But my goal is to be 100 percent on every pitch. Do what I can control and swing at good pitches. We’re working with hitting coaches that have a philosophy I like. And I think we’re all gonna take advantage of that and, as a group, we’re gonna have a good year.”

https://theathletic.com/3277129/2022/04/28/the-many-talents-some-hidden-of-orioles-outfielder-anthony-santander/?source=dailyemail&campaign=601983

There’s a lot more in the article.   It’s almost worth the price of a month’s subscription by itself.

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks - I will go read it now.  I love watching the interplay in the dugout lately between Mullins, Trey (Mountie?) and him discussing prior AB's, etc.  This group is really pulling together and the results, while SSS, are beginning to show.  I hope that were are witnessing something.

[Moose Milligan]

Lol, staying off pitches he doesn't think he can drive.  If it were only that simple.

Where's @Sports Guyto cook up a make believe trade?   We gotta sell high!

[Can_of_corn]

5 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

Lol, staying off pitches he doesn't think he can drive.  If it were only that simple.

Where's @Sports Guyto cook up a make believe trade?   We gotta sell high!

High was 2020.

[Moose Milligan]

Just now, Can_of_corn said:

High was 2020.

Maybe you were back then, but I'm not so sure anymore.

[Sports Guy]

15 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

High was 2020.

Tough to say, since that was a SSS and only one “season” to show it.  Value could definitely get higher between now and the offseason vs where it was in the 2020 offseason 

[wildcard]

Sounds like he is a high character guy.  I wonder with the injuries problems why he didn't try to get in this kind of shape years ago.