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July 1, 2010
Last week I examined the Indians’ All-Star candidates, and concluded that Shin-Soo Choo, in all likelihood, would be the Indians’ representative.
As if on cue, Choo put together a monster stretch of baseball: since June 23, Choo’s hit 5 HR, knocked in 10 RBI, raised his slugging percentage by 36 points, and contributed to the team’s recent four-game winning streak.
But someone else has had a hand in the recent offensive output. In fact, near the end of the piece referenced above, I suggested that Carlos Santana might deserve to make the All-Star team as well. Sure, it was sort of a joke: Santana made his MLB debut June 11—giving him barely a month before the game in Anaheim. Like I said then, it’s a long-shot.
Even still, let’s look at Santana’s numbers to see where he ranks. First the rate stats:
| Name | Team | AVG | OBP | SLG | OPS | ISO | wOBA |
| Carlos Santana | Indians | 0.345 | 0.458 | 0.707 | 1.165 | 0.362 | 0.488 |
| Jorge Posada | Yankees | 0.270 | 0.373 | 0.497 | 0.870 | 0.227 | 0.379 |
| Jason Varitek | Red Sox | 0.263 | 0.324 | 0.547 | 0.871 | 0.284 | 0.366 |
| John Jaso | Rays | 0.270 | 0.398 | 0.388 | 0.786 | 0.118 | 0.364 |
| Mike Napoli | Angels | 0.252 | 0.329 | 0.496 | 0.825 | 0.243 | 0.359 |
| Victor Martinez | Red Sox | 0.289 | 0.344 | 0.480 | 0.824 | 0.191 | 0.357 |
| Joe Mauer | Twins | 0.302 | 0.378 | 0.431 | 0.809 | 0.129 | 0.353 |
| John Buck | Blue Jays | 0.263 | 0.301 | 0.512 | 0.813 | 0.249 | 0.346 |
| Kurt Suzuki | Athletics | 0.263 | 0.319 | 0.445 | 0.764 | 0.182 | 0.336 |
I’ll save you from poring over that chart too much: Carlos Santana leads all AL catchers in batting average, OBP, SLG, OPS, ISO, and wOBA. Every. Single. One.
How much of a surprise that list is depends on how closely you’ve been watching the Indians. Santana just puts together amazingly impressive at bats every time he comes to the plate. Do I miss Casey Blake (and his $18 million contract)? No. No I do not.
Let’s look at some slightly more advanced stats that assess plate discipline:
| Name | Team | BB% | K% | BB/K |
| Carlos Santana | Indians | 18.1% | 13.8% | 1.63 |
| Jorge Posada | Yankees | 13.0% | 23.9% | 0.64 |
| Jason Varitek | Red Sox | 8.6% | 30.5% | 0.31 |
| John Jaso | Rays | 16.7% | 11.2% | 1.82 |
| Mike Napoli | Angels | 7.4% | 33.5% | 0.25 |
| Victor Martinez | Red Sox | 8.1% | 10.2% | 0.88 |
| Joe Mauer | Twins | 11.0% | 10.2% | 1.23 |
| John Buck | Blue Jays | 4.0% | 30.6% | 0.14 |
| Kurt Suzuki | Athletics | 4.4% | 9.6% | 0.50 |
So again, Santana draws more walks than any catcher in the AL, while keeping his strikeouts to a minimum. The only other catcher on the list that challenges him in BB/K ratio is part-timer John Jaso from the Tampa Bay Rays—he of the .388 slugging percentage who is losing playing time to Kelly Shoppach. Carlos controls the strikezone as well as anyone out there, and does it with a phenomenal amount of power.
Obviously, Santana falls off a little bit in the counting stats: he just hasn’t had the time to amass the sort of totals that full-timers have. When looking at the following chart, keep in mind that Santana has about 200 fewer plate appearances than the full-time catchers he’s competing against (Santana has 72 PAs; Mauer has 291):
| Name | Team | HR | RBI | R | wRC |
| Carlos Santana | Indians | 4 | 15 | 10 | 17.9 |
| Jorge Posada | Yankees | 9 | 28 | 25 | 30.9 |
| Jason Varitek | Red Sox | 7 | 18 | 18 | 15.7 |
| John Jaso | Rays | 3 | 25 | 24 | 27.5 |
| Mike Napoli | Angels | 14 | 32 | 33 | 37.2 |
| Victor Martinez | Red Sox | 9 | 38 | 36 | 38.4 |
| Joe Mauer | Twins | 3 | 34 | 41 | 40.4 |
| John Buck | Blue Jays | 13 | 40 | 26 | 30.2 |
| Kurt Suzuki | Athletics | 10 | 35 | 25 | 28.4 |
Yeah. Santana has more home runs than Joe Mauer. So there’s that. But what I find interesting is that when looking at the list, you would guess that Santana has about half as many plate appearances than the other guys. About half as many HRs as most, about half as many runs and RBI and runs created. But he doesn’t. He has about one-fourth as many plate appearances! So multiply his counting stats by four—or if you’re feeling conservative, by three—and see where he ranks. He’d be blowing them all away!
But wasn’t Santana supposed to be this good as a hitter? Didn’t I argue, several weeks ago, that he’d be the most valuable hitter on the team, using MLEs? Wasn’t it his defense that was suspect? Well, guess who leads the AL in caught stealing percentage (starters only—sorry Jose Molina). Go ahead, guess. It’s Carlos Santana, who’s thrown out 50% of would-be base stealers. There isn’t much this kid doesn’t do well.
Do I think that Santana will get the call for the All-Star game? No, I don’t. But all the noise being made about Stephen Strasburg sort of got under my skin. Santana has been more valuable than Strasburg since their respective call-ups, and if you’re going to give Strasburg the nod, why not Santana? Couple that with the recent injury to Victor Martinez, and there’s a real argument to be made that Santana is more deserving than Strasburg is of a roster spot. And a lot of people seem to think there’s no logical reason to keep Strasburg off the roster. QED, as they say in math school. (Though they don’t often call it “math school”.)
I know it’s not going to happen, but if you put me in a room with Joe Girardi, I don’t think he could defend taking Kurt Suzuki over Santana, and I bet that’s what ends up happening.
25 Comments
Let’s start a “Write in” cmapaign for Carlos Santana (In my mind, I say Santana like Tony Montana in Scarface)
Son-Ta-na
I totally agree about the Santana-Strasburg comparison. Yes, Stephen Strasburg may be your better-than-average rookie pitcher. But compared to the turnout of Carlos Santana, I don’t believe that they match up (yes, I know they are two totally different positions.)
Wow… this is just ridiculous. I knew Santana’s numbers were off the charts, but I had no idea they were this good. Comparing his power numbers to other catchers when he has so many fewer at bats speaks volumes. Good work.
@ matty – I already did my part and wrote Santana and Strasburg both in on my ballot. Which I turned in at a Nats game in May. With all Indians and all Nats players on it.
Ok, if we can blame Branyan for all that is wrong in the world…
Can we credit Carlos Santana for all that is right?
Kudos to Denny for writing-in Santana a month before his call-up. Boom, fortune telling.
@mgbode
The sun rises every morning. #PraiseSantana
i think it will come down to if Girardi has to take one of those catchers (Suzuki) to hit the “every team needs a player” quota. If that does not come into play, he’d be dumb not to tkae him since it might mean home field advantage in the WS for his team.
Santana could definitely make a difference in that game.
I’d be happy for Santana to get in but not at the expense of Choo.
5 in a row!
Rachel Phelps will never allow this to happen…
@7 – Santana put the marshmellows in Lucky Charms
@11
Santana single-handedly traded Russell Branyan
Santana invented motorboating
Santana ended the Cavs HC confusion and gave Scott a contract.
Santana taught a German Shepard to bark in Spanish.
Santana taught Stephen Strasburg how to pitch.
Santana told the Bulls, Nets, and Heat to sacrifice their franchises futures, knowing all along that LBJ will re-sign with the Cavaliers.
Santana hired Holmgren.
Holmgren goes to Santana for QB advice.
Holmgren’s mustache? also originally Santana’s idea.
It is true, craters on the moon ARE from Carlos Santana Batting Practice.
Santana is the reason the US does not have vuvuzelas at sporting events
Twitter was created in the honor of Carlos Santana. He only speaks in 140 characters.
when Santana goes into a Baskin Robbins, there are more than 34 flavors to choose from
LBJ has Santana’s face tattoo’d on the back of his head.
The King only trusts Santana and his “Special Eyes” to watch his back.
Santana brings all the boys to the yard.
/Milkshake’d
Carlos Santana, the guitarist, is being sued for Defamation of Character. Being a “Rock Legend” does not do justice to the catcher Carlos Santana’s reputation.