I feel like such a dope anytime someone sends me a message written in acronymoglyphs. Sure, I know LOL. I’m not a complete moron but everything else has me going to the good ole Google machine. Even then, I have questions. Do I click on Urban Dictionary or not? The prudent thing is usually to eschew UD but I need the street cred. So, to exhibit my proficiency in acronymoglyphs, this post will be dedicated to my new creation: A. S. S. Anthony Santander Sucks. The beauty of this acronym is that it can be used in a sentence: Anthony Santander sucks A. S. S. He’s the 574th player on the Razzball Player Rater. To be fair, Santander has not always sucked but he’s sucking A. S. S. so far this season, which has led 12.1% of owners in ESPN leagues to drop him. Who’s going to be the A. S. S. at the end of the season?
Santander is 28 years old, 6-foot-2, 235 pounds and bats from both sides of the plate. He initially signed with the Cleveland Indians as an international free agent back in 2011. He spent six seasons in their minor league system, never advancing past Single-A. Then he was selected by the Baltimore Orioles in the 2016 Rule 5 draft. He made his MLB debut a year later, accruing 31 plate appearances. Over the next four seasons, he was in the majors but never received more than 440 plate appearances. Last season, though, he racked up 647 plate appearances and smashed 33 home runs.
Throughout his minor league career, he always showed a penchant for putting bat to ball, as the strikeout rate was rarely above 20%. His last four seasons in the majors with Baltimore had strikeout rates of 18.9%, 23.1%, 15.2%, and 21.2%. The swinging strike rate was 9.2%, 11.6%, 11.2%, and 9.7%.
So far this season, Santander has a 32.4% strikeout rate in 68 plate appearances! Gross. Let’s dig in to see if this is the N. W. O. or just a blip on the radar. Random thought: Do we need to get rid of the “blip on the radar” expression? Because with the advent of stealth technology, a blip on the radar could in fact be a B-2 bomber carrying 40,000 pounds of ordnance. Ok, back to our regularly scheduled programming.
The walk rate of 10.3% is good to see. The BABIP of .289 is actually higher than his career number but nothing too alarming. The ISO is .133, which isn’t surprising due to his struggles. The average exit velocity is at 90.1 mph, so all good on that front. Max EV is down but the launch angle and barrel rates look fine. The hard hit rate is a career-high 51.3%! Things that make you go……!#$!#@$%@$%@. Confusion.
Looking at the batted ball data starts to expose some things. The GB/FB rate is normal but the infield fly ball rate is a career-high 26.3% while he’s pulling the ball a whopping 59% of the time. For perspective, that number has been 44% and 42.9% over the last two seasons.
The plate discipline numbers are so, so bad. The chase rate is 41.5%, after being in the mid-30s the last two seasons. The contact rate in the zone is only 76.4%, after being in the mid-to-high 80s the last two seasons. The swinging strike rate is a career-high 13.8%!
Looking at the Statcast pitch data, Anthony Santander is seeing slightly more fastballs this season and the type of offspeed pitches thrown at him have changed. Last season, the changeup was the most prevalent offspeed pitch seen. So far this season, pitchers have been attacking him with the slider 21.6% of the time. Last season, he saw a slider only 10.9%. Against the slider, Santander is striking out 46.2% of the time and has a 20% hard hit rate against the pitch. The whiff percentage is 26.7%.
While he’s struggled against the slider, most of Santander’s issues have been due to fastballs. He’s whiffing 39.2% against the pitch and striking out 41.4% of the time. Last season, the strikeout rate was only 19.7% of the time while the whiff rate was 20.2%.
Last season, the SLG was over .400 against the fastball, changeup, sinker, slider, cutter, and splitter. This season, the SLB is over .400 against only one pitch, the curveball.
Pitchers have attacked Anthony Santander a little differently to start this season. His timing is waaaaaaaaaaaayyyyy off, as evidenced by the high popup rate and insane pull rate. I have confidence that he will eventually figure it out, though. He has an extensive history of doing just that and I don’t think he’s suddenly morphed into being a 30% strikeout and .13o ISO hitter. It’s been 68 plate appearances!!!
Santander bats cleanup for one of the best offenses in MLB. Baltimore is top 10 in runs scored, home runs, RBI, and OPS. Once he gets his timing down and adjusts to the adjustments, Santander should get back to being one of the better power hitters in the league. He’s 28 years old, in the prime of his career, so it’s not like Father Time has come to collect.
