Anthony Santander 2023

[interloper]

I did a search and couldn't find a 2023 thread for him yet, but if I'm wrong please let me know. 

Tony's coming off a great WBC and solid ST and I'm looking forward to big things from him. His first series in Boston, though, I thought was just okay. While he had 5 hits and 2 doubles, he (like others) was pretty awful in the field. And even though he's off to a good offensive start, I still think he gave away quite a few ABs by swinging at some obvious balls and in general just looked kind of lackadaisical out there. I'm not one to harp on running ground balls out, especially with his injury history, but he had a pretty half-hearted jog to 1B on a grounder to 2nd in game 3. I don't think I'm noticing that normally, to be fair, if the overall level of play in the series was higher. 

Anyway, I think he's going to have a great season. I just want to see some better ABs. 

Edited April 3, 2023 by interloper

[Frobby]

I thought he looked fine at the plate. His defense in Game 1 was awful, but he was better last year in RF than LF and Fenway is no picnic when you only play there a handful of games a year.  I’m not quite as bullish as some on Santander, but I’m hoping he’ll build on last year.  

[Hank Scorpio]

The K against Bleier had me pouting a teency bit.

Not good to be late on an 84mph cutter, waist high.

Stuff happens, I guess.

[interloper]

2 minutes ago, Hank Scorpio said:

The K against Bleier had me pouting a teency bit.

Not good to be late on an 84mph cutter, waist high.

Stuff happens, I guess.

Yeah, it's one of those series where his numbers were a lot better than I thought he looked. Maybe that's because he didn't really drive in runs, just the one RBI from the 5 hits, despite all the runs scored. Also, no walks. 

[Ohfan67]

Santander has the lowest OPS on the team, but this thread has been exceptionally quiet. He's starting to warm up a bit in the last week, so hopefully he's getting over his slow start.

 

IMO, Santander is very unlikely to be on next year's team. It will be interesting to see how the Orioles use him if he has a mediocre season. 

[interloper]

He looks a little unfocused up there compared to other guys. Swinging at a lot of high fastballs and some ABs just seem kind of wasted. That said, he's been a little more productive lately. Odd to see him only have 1 homer so far though. 

[SilverRocket]

Ryan Fuller was asked about him in a pregame interview a few days ago, and said it was an issue of timing and not using his lower body enough. That doesn't explain his lost plate discipline though... his chase rate is from 32.5% last year to 40.6% so far this year, the worst of his career. He had that day off from a sore back so I wonder if that's affecting anything, but theoretically his swing decisions shouldn't be changing.

He did make a nice diving catch last night.

[Ohfan67]

Still has the lowest OPS on the team and second lowest OBP. Disappointing start to say the least. 

Edited May 3, 2023 by Ohfan67

[Moose Milligan]

Very disappointing start to his season. He’s fortunate that the team is winning and there are other more interesting topics to discuss (who to promote, etc) because he’s been a drag on the lineup. 
 

[sportsfan8703]

Blame on the WBC?  Did he develop some bad habits(free swingin) because of the lack of quality pitching on the lesser teams?

[Moose Milligan]

3 minutes ago, sportsfan8703 said:

Blame on the WBC?  Did he develop some bad habits(free swingin) because of the lack of quality pitching on the lesser teams?

Oh no, I thought he was going to have a great start to his season cause he was hot at the WBC and that was gonna carry over. 

[sportsfan8703]

Vs LHP - .836 OPS

vs RHP - .567 OPS

[sportsfan8703]

His slow start has been especially crushing considering our 9-1-2 were pretty much the league leaders in OBP. 

[LA2]

1 hour ago, sportsfan8703 said:

Vs LHP - .836 OPS

vs RHP - .567 OPS

.913 v. LHP / .720 v. RHP last season, but with plenty of home runs from both sides. Big difference in BA and OBP. It's he, not Mullins, that Hyde should be dropping further down in the lineup according to the handedness of the pitcher. Or try a platoon with Stowers or occasionally O'Hearn?

[emmett16]

2 hours ago, sportsfan8703 said:

Blame on the WBC?  Did he develop some bad habits(free swingin) because of the lack of quality pitching on the lesser teams?

He was in the group of death with DR & PR and then played USA.  I think he’s in a funk and has some nagging injuries.  
 

the 16 pitch AB had to be one of the longest (time-wise) in MLB history.  Salvy coming out, new C getting banged around, and then pitches.  Crazy.  
 

Hoping he breaks out soon - would be a boon for the team.