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| Carlos Santana (Photo: AP) |
What to do with Santana?
Catcher Carlos Santana has had an interesting sophomore season in the big leagues this year for the Indians. Billed as an impact hitter and defender when he was called up a little over a year ago in June, his impact in either area of the game has yet to materialize.
Santana, 25, has actually had a solid season so far at the plate. Even though he is only hitting .226 he has done a good job of getting on base with a .347 on-base percentage. He also has been productive where he has 15 homers and 47 RBI, and has maintained a good approach at the plate with 68 walks to his 85 strikeouts. While he only ranks 8th among all qualified catchers in baseball in hitting, among catchers he also ranks 2nd in runs (47), 3rd in home runs, 5th in RBI, 3rd in on-base percentage, and 5th in OPS (.763).
Outside of shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera and designated hitter Travis Hafner, Santana has been the most productive hitter in the Indians lineup. Even more than popular outfielder Michael Brantley. The problem is his performance has not lived up to expectations, so the perception is that he has been very bad when in fact he has been a little above average as a hitter (league average for OPS is .712).
Where Santana has really struggled this year is behind the plate. In the minors he was billed as an above average receiver with a powerful arm that could impact a game defensively.
So far the only impact Santana has made from the behind the plate is helping other teams score runs. His six errors and .986 fielding percentage along with his 21.8% throw out percentage of attempted base stealers are one of the worst in baseball.
Thankfully the Indians have Lou Marson around. For as offensively challenged as Marson is, he only has two errors (.993 fielding%) and has thrown out 47.4% of attempted basestealers which is tops in baseball.
With Matt LaPorta struggling at first base (.238, 10 HR, 39 RBI, .710 OPS) and Marson excelling defensively behind the plate, a lot of people have recommended moving Santana to first base full time. That is probably the right choice in the short term for this season, but long term Santana's best value to the organization is as a catcher.
One thing to remember is Santana is still coming off a frightening knee injury just a year ago, and there may be some confidence issues he is still dealing with. Also, considering he has bounced around back and forth from first base and catcher and has not consistently been behind the plate, it is possible it has affected his throwing and defense overall.
What Santana needs is a full offseason of rest where he does not play, can work out and get stronger, and most importantly get a lot of personal instruction from Sandy Alomar Jr. and other Indians coaches.
These things can't always be done in-season, and before the Indians pull the plug on Santana as a catcher they need to see him through at the position and see what a full offseason of work without rehab taking up all his time can do for him. If he is still struggling at this time next year behind the plate, then the Indians will have to consider the move to first base and giving the full time gig to Marson.
Season low point
With the Indians being no-hit in a 3-1 loss on Wednesday to Ervin Santana of the Angels and then shutout in a 12-0 loss on Friday night to Jeff Francis and the Royals, the Indians hit their lowest point of the season.
Ever since a hot 30-15 start the Indians have been on a steady decline back to the .500 mark where they are stood at 54-53 going into tonight's game. The reason for that 24-38 record since their 30-15 hot start is partly because of some sloppy defensive play, but mostly because of an inept offense.
Sometimes you just tip your cap to a pitcher, which is the case on Wednesday when Santana dominated the Indians. He was on his A-game and just breezed through their lineup to achieve history. But what happened on Friday night is inexcusable. To get shutout by Jeff Francis and get clobbered by the last place Royals is very concerning, and is probably the worst loss of the season for the Indians.
The Indians need to right this ship quickly in order to avoid falling even further as they are in danger of dropping to third place and dipping under .500.
The Indians are still having a very positive season, one that most did not expect. Unfortunately, they are going backwards this year where after starting so hot and creating some excitement, their play of late has created a lot of frustration and apathy when there really should be much more excitement for a young team that is over .500 and back to relevance.
Even so, it is not time to throw up the white flag as even if they are not a serious World Series contender this division is still very winnable. With over 50 games to go in the season there is still a lot that can happen and the fortunes of the team can change at any moment, especially if they get healthy and some players start playing like they are capable of.
Rough July for Carrasco
It is time to start worrying about right-handed starting pitcher Carlos Carrasco. Overall he is having a solid season where in 19 starts he is 8-8 with a 4.25 ERA; however, his struggles of late are concerning.
Carrasco, 24, looked to be making significant strides back in June where he made six starts and went 4-2 with a 1.90 ERA. He looked like a staple of the Indians rotation for years to come and was living up to his promise as a former top prospect. Many thought he had arrived, but once the calendar flipped to July everything has changed.
In four starts this month Carrasco is 0-4 with a 7.52 ERA. Suddenly, all that progress he seemingly had made has gone out the window, and in some ways he looks to be regressing to the same fragile-minded pitcher he had come to be known as.
Nothing shows this better than what transpired Friday night when he was pounded for seven runs and three homers in 3.1 innings by the Royals. After serving up a grand slam home run to Melky Cabrera he went headhunting on Billy Butler on the next pitch and was promptly thrown out of the game. It was a bush league move by him, and a sign he still has a ways to go from a maturity standpoint and issues with his toughness are still present.
Carrasco is still a big part of the Indians future. Right now it is important for him to get with pitching coach Tim Belcher and look at the tapes from June and compare them to the tapes in July and see why he was having success and somehow get back to it. If the Indians have any thoughts of staying in the division race this season he will need to get back to competing and putting up quality outings on a much more consistent basis.
Choo is ahead of schedule
Outfielder Shin-Soo Choo is working his way back from his broken left thumb that he suffered in San Francisco about five weeks ago. With the struggles the Indians have had offensively, this is good news for Indians fans. He is still about a month from returning, but according to Choo he is pushing himself and believes he may be ready to return as soon as the August 16-18 series in Chicago against the White Sox.
Choo has been taking part in a throwing and hitting program where he is throwing the ball at 90 feet and hitting balls off of a tee. He is considered to be ahead of schedule, and was expected to start a soft toss program early this week while he travelled with the team to Boston and Texas. If things continue to go well he will begin taking batting practice with the team possibly by this weekend and could go on a short rehab assignment right after.
Parting shots
Infielder Jason Donald had been splitting time between third base and shortstop at Triple-A Columbus. Indians Infield Coordinator Travis Fryman was in Columbus recently to work on him at third base. In 46 games at Columbus he is hitting .306 with four homers, 15 RBI, and a .836 OPS. … Second baseman Cord Phelps is finally back to playing his normal position of second base every day now that Jason Kipnis has been called up. He had been playing out of position almost exclusively at shortstop all season in Columbus. In 73 games with Columbus he is hitting .291 with eight homers, 47 RBI, and a .837 OPS. … The Indians have not thrown a no-hitter since Len Barker’s perfect game on May 15, 1981. It is the longest drought between no-hitters for any team in baseball (Mets and Padres have never thrown one).
Follow Tony and the Indians Prospect Insider on Twitter @TonyIPI. Also, his latest book the 2011 Cleveland Indians Top 100 Prospects & More is available for purchase for $20.95 to customers in the US (shipping and handling extra).
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1 comments:
We've thrown Santana into the fire this year, and although he's struggled, he's held up without collapse. He's going to be all the better and stronger from having gone through this, this year. Most would have crumbled given all that has been placed on his shoulders at such a young age, and with as little time as he had developing as a catcher in the minors. I anticipate him having a big year next year and on into the future, although I wouldn't keep him in the role of fulltime catcher. I'd have him catch for maybe two pitchers in the rotation, and have Marson handle the others.
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