K-Pax vs Hector Santiago, LHP
Playin' with house money

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I think that's Santiago's dad, celebrating the promotion of his sons to the major leagues.

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Q.  Mojician sez:  Who or what is an Hector Santiago?

A.  Had to go find out me-self.

Santiago pitched some for the White Sox, even closing a little bit, was tried in the rotation, etc.  Sort of a Charlie Furbush type, very live stuff, but you're not too sure what his best role is.  He's not comfortable for the enemy batters, and he's not comfortable for your own manager.  You hope to spot his role and get him going to unleash his talent.

He's of Puerto Rican descent, but pitches "Cuban style":

  • Electric arm, which is wasted on ...
  • ... a wide array of "trickster" pitches 
  • Even including a SCREWBALL :- O
  • Funky delivery
  • Lots of looking strikes

Here is a video that gives you the idea.  Short-arm delivery, a very macho, In Yo Face attitude, but it's mostly bluster.  Land a few body shots and then you'll find out who he really is.  (I'm not saying that we know, yet.)

MLB is based on smooth repetition, on doing things exactly the same way every time, so you can REPEAT it.  In Cuba* (*I know, I know) they don't play 162 games.  That's why they tried to get Roenis Elias to increase the repeatability of what he does.

Santiago is a lot like a Roenis, if Roenis had three (3) more pitches but considerably less command.

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Q.  Is he good?

A.  Last year Santiago struck out 8+ per game, but walked a sky-high 4.4 men per game, too.  Last year, among qualified starters there were only 5 guys who were even over 3.6 men per game.  You can't stay in the rotation and walk 4.4 men, unless you're Nolan Ryan or something.

So Mike Scioscia is watching Santiago through the slits in his fingers, hoping against hope.

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Q.  What's the upside?

A.  Oh ... for Santiago to start the All-Star Game, maybe?  

He's real talented.   You know, like Furbush, like Brandon Morrow, like Daniel Cabrera if you want to go nuts with the "high risk high upside" template.

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Q.  How does he match up against the M's?

A.  He's so deceptive, that for SURE he will put Miller's, Ackley's, and Seager's plate discipline to the ultimate test.

In theory, the M's patience should create a matchup in their favor.  You lay off Santiago's sucker pitches, you wind up in plenty of 2-0, 3-1 counts.  Two homers tonight?  We can hope :- ) but Santiago could just as easily strike out 10 guys in six innings.

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Q.  What to watch with respect to K-Pax?

A.  The nerves.

One comforting thought:  the way he pitched last season, against four contenders.  And the fact that McClendon did leisurely wait until game Three for him.

......

Oh, and let's keep an eye on the groundballs.  Maybe he'll get into 2-0, 3-1 counts against Pujols and Trout, and they'll hit sharp grounders at people.  The groundball ratio is Paxton's safety net.  Maybe that will become a factor.

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Q.  What's the lineup?

A.  The Seattle Times has the pregame, the earliest.

Looks like the same lineup as last night, but with Willie Bloomquist in there for the lefty Kyle Seager (and slots 6-8 moving up).  Romero is in there again, even though Michael Saunders sits 2 of the first 3.  

Dr. D heartily approves of the Oakland-style attitude, "the ballclub comes first".  McClendon is honestly doing tons and tons of things that SSI would do just the same way.  Don't hold it against him.

The M's are playing with house money tonight; if they lose it practically does not matter.  But if the Angels lose again, I'm going to spend tomorrow morning reading Los Angeles papers :- )

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Q.  Predictions?

A.  Santiago is one of the game's most "shrill" starting pitchers - actually he's a reliever at heart.  Whereas, the M's lefty kiddie corps is not exactly calm and centered itself.

Watch for the plotline of Robinson Cano's Ultimate Tranquility (TM) against Santiago's franticness...

You know that K-Pax is not boring, and the Angels' ballclub is shrill by virtue of the LA press and it's 0-2 start.  Should be an explosive game.  Lots of K, BB, deep counts, wild swings... and maybe more than one homer.

Won't be boring.

Enjoy,
Jeff

Blog: 

Comments

1

Awesome Doc. Who ever heard of having their beisbol questions answered with timely front page posts? We should really pay you something.

2
RockiesJeff's picture

Z has made some dumb moves as we all would have. But I do give him credit for not succumbing to the pressure to trade away some of the youth to get the immediate retread fix. Well, except to get Joe Pick em off B! Go Pax!!!

3

that's all I can say about this series...this start from Paxton...and this team. :D

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