Article: Short Change?

[Nick Nelson]

Regression was expected for Danny Santana following a charmed rookie season, but few could have guessed it would hit him as hard as it has right out of the gate.

 

In 42 plate appearances over his first 10 games of the season, the 24-year-old has eight hits (seven singles), 13 strikeouts and zero walks. For the most part, he has looked totally overmatched at the plate.

 

On Sunday, Santana got his second day off of the season. Eduardo Escobar, starting at shortstop in his place, went 1-for-4 with an RBI single.The Twins generally tend to exercise patience with slumping players, and that's what you usually like to see with a guy as young as Santana, but there are several mitigating factors in his case that could press Paul Molitor to take action.

 

First, he's in that leadoff spot, batting directly in front of the best hitters in the lineup and consistently taking terrible at-bats. That's tough to stomach. Of course, you can simply slide him down, and that step will probably be taken ahead of sending him to the minors.

 

But the bigger concern might be Santana's defense. He has already committed three errors in 10 games, and has looked shaky by and large. Former shortstop Roy Smalley commented during one Fox Sports North broadcast last week that it was obvious Santana has spent some time away from the position because he appeared rusty in many regards. That's the developmental cost of using him in center field for much of 2014.

 

With the Twins focused on playing strong defense behind their pitchers, there won't be much tolerance for inadequate glove work at short. They know what Escobar brings to the table defensively, and while he hasn't hit much early on himself, he's coming off an excellent spring and a productive '14 campaign.

 

The season is only two weeks old, but Santana fills vital roles both offensively and defensively and he's been nowhere near up to snuff in either regard. His tremendous rookie season is offset by a lengthy minor-league record of mediocrity, so I'll be curious to see how long of a leash it really buys him.

 

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[Shane Wahl]

Escobar has yet to spell Dozier, and both Vargas and Mauer will get days off soon (Arcia to DH, etc.) so that part of the issue won't come into play yet. They should stick with Santana at the leadoff spot playing SS for two more weeks before making any changes. 

[h2oface]

Players really seem to regress if they don't play. Santana and Escobar both had great springs, and both had a pretty darn good 2014, too. Santana's was even better than Escobar's. If by a "lengthy minor-league record of mediocrity" it means hitting around .270, then I think that applies to both of them as well. They both have similar numbers so far in 2015. I think we give Santana a bit of slack here. It wasn't his fault that he could play a slightly below average center field and that no one else seemed to be able to do better, and hitting .320ish was hard to take out of the lineup. I don't know that he needs to hit lead off all the time, though. But let's face it. Most of the Twins' batters are hitting like Danny Santana is right now and around the Mendoza line. May as well give then all a chance to settle in.  That or replace them all.  

 

I don't see how the Twins are focused on playing strong defense behind their pitchers. If that were the case, the outfield would be all different people, and the first baseman would be a bit more practiced as well. 

[diehardtwinsfan]

I have to think it's coming... maybe not just yet, but I wouldn't be surprised at all if he heads down to AAA for some seasoning.

[nokomismod]

I'm not concerned enough yet to think he can work through this and become the guy at SS. Let him play through it like the rest of the lineup.

[Platoon]

I must have missed the Twins focus on playing strong defense? (Snarky, sorry). After you replace Arcia, Nunez, Hunter, Hermann and Schafer, then you can consider Santana. Along with him don't forget Suzuki and Mauer. Santana went out and played CF last year, mediocre as it were, quietly and dreadfully out of position. He needs a chance to succeed at SS. If he can you have a SS. If he can't, you can plug replacement level Esobar back in. If this team cannot spend some time auditioning a player, which team could?

[eLee612]

I really want to see Danny succeed at SS, but sometimes that success has to come from failure. (Insert some smart !!! comment about a phoenix and ashes...)

 

BUT. Say they sent him down to AAA to give him a little time to work it out, would they just slot in Nuñez/Escobar or would they consider bringing someone up? Who? We've got Bernier and Diaz (pretty sure both of them have been batting 9th) at AAA and then Poloanco at AA. Just curious as to how they might shuffle the deck. 

[USAFChief]

The Twins have had years to watch and evaluate Santana's ability to play SS. They made a decision this winter to play him there, and had an entire spring training (not just games) to evaluate that decision. Nothing he's done in 2015 should be a huge surprise to them.

 

I hope they aren't changing their minds based on 10 games. Things can change, for the better or the worse, but I don't think you decide they've changed for good based on such limited data.

 

Let him play.

[jimmer]

 

The Twins have had years to watch and evaluate Santana's ability to play SS. They made a decision this winter to play him there, and had an entire spring training (not just games) to evaluate that decision. Nothing he's done in 2015 should be a huge surprise to them.

I hope they aren't changing their minds based on 10 games. Things can change, for the better or the worse, but I don't think you decide they've changed for good based on such limited data.

Let him play.

This sounds like a post that might have been written about Plouffe a few years ago.

[Thegrin]

I see Santana playing SS thru April. I wouldn't be surprised to see him moved to 8th or 9th in the batting order.  If he doesn't start to hit and field better by May, I suspect the Twins will do something dramatic.

[uberfan]

I agree to let him play for now but not bat leadoff. Not sure who that should be...

[Mike Sixel]

No idea why you'd bench him already.....he's young, and he needs time. All this "patience" I read about needing to have ....maybe the Twins should practice it with players.

 

And, duh, of course he's rusty at SS, that's what you get for playing him in CF last year, for no good reason at all.

[HitInAPinch]

 

No idea why you'd bench him already.....he's young, and he needs time. All this "patience" I read about needing to have ....maybe the Twins should practice it with players.

 

And, duh, of course he's rusty at SS, that's what you get for playing him in CF last year, for no good reason at all.

Well, the whole handling of Santana has been bizarre, at best.  The "good" reason for Santana playing CF last year was the Twins, inexplicably didn't seem to have any outfielders to play, ya know, outfield.  How the heck can a professional organization pull off something like that??

Ahhhhhhhhh...  I feel better now

 

So Santana is still re-adjusting to SS  and his backup, Escobar, adjusting to being a bench player.  Santana was developing as a CF last year, so I think the whole poor defense thing is overblown.  Escobar had an excellent year at SS, with good defense.  So I ask the same question, again:  why the NEED to move Santana back to SS when you had a good thing going with Santana in CF and Escobar at SS last year?

[Danchat]

 

No idea why you'd bench him already.....he's young, and he needs time. All this "patience" I read about needing to have ....maybe the Twins should practice it with players.

 

And, duh, of course he's rusty at SS, that's what you get for playing him in CF last year, for no good reason at all.

Perhaps if the Twins actually bothered to fix our CF problem last year, we wouldn't be having a problem at SS now. But alas, here we are with still no CF and a rusty SS.

[DocBauer]

Considering just how bad the team hit and played defense the first week or so, I don't see any more reason to single out Santana than anyone else.

 

Moving pieces around the lineup makes sense. And a day off here and there is normal for anyone and everyone. But demotion or benching after this short a time after a good '14 and a good ST would be counter productive and reactionary.

[bird]

It seems that Molitor really trusts Santana's raw talent. He basically acknowledged his struggles, but said "he might go 4 for 5 tomorrow". 

 

The guy I want to see excel at SS is Jorge Polanco in Chattanooga. 

[bird]

 

Maybe the Twins should practice patience with players?

 

I get so confused. The Twins aren't patient enough. The Twins don't promote fast enough. 

 

You can't have it both ways, to use the commenter's own criticism of Terry Ryan.

[TheLeviathan]

If you're going to jump a guy up as quick as Santana than you need to be really, really sure that what he needs can be found in AAA and not the bigs before you give up on that.  To me, Santana looks like a kid that needs to knock the rust off but has the ability.

 

Plouffe, by contrast, never looked like he had the tools to play SS.  Santana does.

 

But I will say this, if there is a reason to send Santana down I don't think it will be his glove.  It'll be if his readjustment to the league's adjustment fails at the plate.  But we need a considerable amount of time to make that determination.

[Captain Nifty]

Did Gardy write this letter in Nick's place? This is exactly the type of logic I'm hopeful will go away with a new manager at the helm. The Twins need to stop yanking the young guys around and give them time to work through slumps. I'd be a lot more concerned if he hadn't hit well in Spring Training but he did so deserves the benefit of the doubt.

 

If Danny is still struggling at the plate and in the field by the first of May then maybe move him down the order a bit. If he's still struggling by the end of May then maybe you send him down to work on some things and try again if he improves in AAA. If he doesn't improve by the end of July it's probably Polanco time. In the mean time he needs to play every day without the stress and pressure of looking over his shoulder/job security concerns. He's probably not going to hit .320 again but my gut says he'll be just fine. 

[Mike Sixel]

 

Maybe the Twins should practice patience with players?

 

I get so confused. The Twins aren't patient enough. The Twins don't promote fast enough. 

You can't have it both ways, to use the commenter's own criticism of Terry Ryan.

 

Bull. They should be patient with young guys........I've been very clear on that. The should not have signed Stauffer in the first place, and should show no mercy.

[TheLeviathan]

 

Maybe the Twins should practice patience with players?

 

I get so confused. The Twins aren't patient enough. The Twins don't promote fast enough. 

You can't have it both ways, to use the commenter's own criticism of Terry Ryan.

 

This isn't really fair though.  Most people are consistent in their philosophies towards this issue.  Of course there is a wide spectrum of opinions that will constantly put Ryan as "right" in some eyes and "wrong" in others.  I think most people critical of the front office are pretty consistent in how they do that.  (With some exceptions that give all criticism a bad name, clearly)

 

I don't see anyone here being inconsistent either, it's just a broad brush comment that doesn't seem to fit the discussion.

[Dantes929]

 

I must have missed the Twins focus on playing strong defense? (Snarky, sorry). After you replace Arcia, Nunez, Hunter, Hermann and Schafer, then you can consider Santana. Along with him don't forget Suzuki and Mauer. Santana went out and played CF last year, mediocre as it were, quietly and dreadfully out of position. He needs a chance to succeed at SS. If he can you have a SS. If he can't, you can plug replacement level Esobar back in. If this team cannot spend some time auditioning a player, which team could?

 

Not sure why you include Mauer with this group.    Among those with 100 games or more his fielding % was tied for the best in 2014.   He certainly seems to make a lot of nice plays, he starts double plays well and is a great target.    Annoying error Sunday but otherwise better than average since he has moved over IMO.

[jimmer]

 

Not sure why you include Mauer with this group.    Among those with 100 games or more his fielding % was tied for the best in 2014.   He certainly seems to make a lot of nice plays, he starts double plays well and is a great target.    Annoying error Sunday but otherwise better than average since he has moved over IMO.

Mauer's defense is just fine at 1B.  It's just not 23M dollar fine :-)

[Mike Sixel]

He's about league median on defense.....no issues with the defense.

[Kirby_waved_at_me]

I think promote quickly, and then exercise patience with the promoted player at the MLB level is a consistent approach/argument .

 

Danny Santana wasn't going to play all 162 games, so I think it's not a terrible idea to give him a break when he's had a couple bad days and use that time out of the lineup to re-focus his game in the batting cage and in practice without in-game pressure.  

 

I will be surprised if he is indeed benched for an extended period of time. I don't think it's a big deal to insert Escobar for a day or two at SS here and there. Santana is still developing, he can take his lumps for most of the time in the lineup, but also he should get rest days like everyone else.

 

Escobar getting playing time is a good thing, and it won't always be at Santana's expense.

[Boom Boom]

I'd be fine with letting Santana knock the rust off defensively. He's got an excuse for that.

 

I'm more concerned about the offense or lack thereof batting leadoff. I don't think it would be jumping the gun to move him to 9th.

[jimmer]

 

I'd be fine with letting Santana knock the rust off defensively. He's got an excuse for that.

I'm more concerned about the offense or lack thereof batting leadoff. I don't think it would be jumping the gun to move him to 9th.

unfortunately, our list of people who should bat 9th is pretty long:-)

[Mike Sixel]

Clearly the offense is a concern, but it can't stay this bad.....

[jimmer]

 

Clearly the offense is a concern, but it can't stay this bad.....

anyone know what league average BABIP is this year so far or what it was last year?

[Boom Boom]

unfortunately, our list of people who should bat 9th is pretty long:-)

True, and admittedly I was going to add to my post "but then who bats leadoff," but it occurred to me that anyone else couldn't be worse there.