Is Anthony Santander really a bad RF?

[Jammer7]

Santander was a very good corner OF in 2020, with a 1 OAA in 2020. That was 33rd in MLB. The ankle injuries in 2021 may have lingering effects, but he also bulked up significantly in 2022 and that seemed to sap his previously average range and quickness. He now looks much less fluid or athletic when he moves. He is more of a lumbering guy now, though he was never more than average. The arm is still a tick above average in strength and accuracy to me. He gets below average jumps, and that is a little concerning. 

I don’t think he hurts us much in RF, especially as long as Cedric Mullins patrols CF. Maybe he can regain some of his previous range with focused conditioning and stretching. The Orioles have better defenders, but it is perplexing that he struggles as a DH. You have to keep that bat in the lineup as much as possible. 
 

https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/savant-player/anthony-santander-623993?stats=statcast-r-hitting-mlb

[Frobby]

57 minutes ago, Jammer7 said:

Santander was a very good corner OF in 2020, with a 1 OAA in 2020. That was 33rd in MLB. The ankle injuries in 2021 may have lingering effects, but he also bulked up significantly in 2022 and that seemed to sap his previously average range and quickness. He now looks much less fluid or athletic when he moves. He is more of a lumbering guy now, though he was never more than average. 

Pretty sure Santander reported that he lost weight between 2021 and 2022, and stressed conditioning that would improve flexibility and reduce risk of injury.  

[Sports Guy]

I don’t think he’s a butcher by any means and the arm does help. 
 

That said, he’s probably slightly below average and the team should be looking to upgrade the defense at that spot.

[Jammer7]

26 minutes ago, Frobby said:

Pretty sure Santander reported that he lost weight between 2021 and 2022, and stressed conditioning that would improve flexibility and reduce risk of injury.  

I recal the same comments from him. I think that was early in 2022. From various comments about him from teammates and Hyde, they talked about how he bulked up this year. I remember Hays even commented how Santander was always eating to keep his weight and muscle up. He may have decreased his body fat%, and he may have even lost a little weight. He was noticeably bigger, more muscular, to me. He ran more like a body builder, and he reminded me of watching Canseco play the OF 30 years ago. Not in a good way, lol.

In 2021, it must have been difficult to get his running in each day. He did look thicker in his mid-section last year. His statcast speed has gone down from 27.5 ft/sec in 2019 to 26.1 in 2021 to 26.4 in 2022. 

Edited November 13, 2022 by Jammer7

[Camden Yards]

Good article that mentions he lost some weight before last season.

https://theathletic.com/3277129/2022/04/28/the-many-talents-some-hidden-of-orioles-outfielder-anthony-santander/?amp=1

[Frobby]

31 minutes ago, Camden Yards said:

Good article that mentions he lost some weight before last season.

https://theathletic.com/3277129/2022/04/28/the-many-talents-some-hidden-of-orioles-outfielder-anthony-santander/?amp=1

This is the article I was remembering. 

[Frobby]

From the article (April 28):

Most years with the Orioles, he’s played at a rock-solid 230-235 pounds. He’s a physical specimen, strong and chiseled. But he’s never been able to shake injuries: knee, ankle, oblique. It’s what has stopped Santander from becoming an elite big leaguer.

So, he made a few promises to himself. One, he wanted to get down to about 220-225 pounds. That meant eating both healthier and smaller portions. He still has his rice and beans, but he eats less of them. His breakfasts consist of mainly egg whites and fruit. Lots of vegetables for lunch.

The second part was reshaping his workouts. Since he’s been a professional, he’s been a gym rat. But he wanted his body to feel differently. He wanted to maintain strength but increase agility and speed. So, he shopped for a gym in South Florida 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.

[DrungoHazewood]

12 hours ago, Frobby said:

“Baseball players tend to be big and slow,” Santander said.

That's... something.  (Goes to check... yep, David Wells was a thing, but then again so were the Billys* Hamilton.)

Santander is a below-average corner outfielder, Statcast shows that.  He's been a few runs below average every year except the COVID year where he was a single run above average.  But dropped to -5 last year. He's 28, so it's likely that he's not going to get better in the field as approaches 30.  So, he's not a butcher, he's not Mark Trumbo or Delmon Young, but he's also not going to win a Gold Glove unless he changes his name to Vlad.

If he keeps hitting he's fine, he's an average-ish RFer.  If he hits like 2021 he becomes harder to play with that defense.

* This does lead to the question, what is the plural of Billy?  Since it's a proper name do you just tack on an s, or change the y to an ies, as in Billies?

Edited November 14, 2022 by DrungoHazewood

[Just Regular]

I guess NL DH raises the league wide corner OF bar.    In olden days, the Dodgers wanted Manny Ramirez, he contributed to the bucket of stats.

Corner OF a bit more balanced than 1B - but still the 60 guys who have those jobs (at least the ones who are stars) are mostly there for run production.

A Rays basic, personified by Kiermaier-Margot-Siri, is that any Platinum candidate who can't hit much...you can nurse some fair production out of them when your path to competition is entirely tilted towards run prevention.

We've talked some about 2B range becoming more important next year with the On the Dirt + shift regulation, but I guess that also means RF will have to fend for themselves all 360 degrees of their zone more often too.    Austin Hays is going to stand where Rougned Odor stood sometimes, but probably not as often as Odor did.    I recall the Jim Hunter calls from Trumbo times the singles falling "just outside his range, but what a great effort he made on that play!", and hope we don't get too much of that next year.     Cowser shouldn't be long if things go decently there.

[Frobby]

52 minutes ago, DrungoHazewood said:

 

* This does lead to the question, what is the plural of Billy?  Since it's a proper name do you just tack on an s, or change the y to an ies, as in Billies?

I say you have to go with Billies, as in The Beverly Hillbillies.   

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/707557791435451853/

 

[NCRaven]

Is there a song about the Billies of the world that Can of Corn can now provide a link?  My day will then be complete.

[Can_of_corn]

10 minutes ago, NCRaven said:

Is there a song about the Billies of the world that Can of Corn can now provide a link?  My day will then be complete.

Best I can do on short notice.

Edited November 14, 2022 by Can_of_corn

[NCRaven]

You da man!

[SilverRocket]

I'd chalked up his lack of speed in 2021 to injury, but with a healthy 2022 it looks like that's just who he is now. I don't think he makes a lot of mistakes... his throws are fine and he plays balls off the wall solidly. He just doesn't move around too quickly anymore.