SURPRISE, AZ – There isn’t a lot to write about for the Fall Stars Game from the Pirates’ perspective. Connor Joe entered the game for the final innings and got one at-bat, grounding out to third base on the first pitch. He played right field and didn’t have many opportunities, ranging back to the wall for a home run, and coming in for a single that fell behind the second baseman.
Both teams started going to their final relievers for one out each in the final inning, and Edgar Santana was lined up to close out the game for the West team. The previous reliever had some issues, giving up a home run, so Santana came on for the final two outs, getting some bonus work. He got a fly out on two pitches, then finished off the game with a six pitch strikeout. He was sitting 96 MPH with his fastball, topping out at 96.5 MPH, and finishing off the game with a low and away slider.
When I saw Santana earlier in the week, he had a strikeout where he finished with a low slider, after pushing the batter off the plate with a two strike fastball that was high and inside.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKB-POtVb7E
Tonight he had a 1-2 count, and once again went up and inside, pushing the batter off the plate. I was talking with a scout while recording the video, and mentioned that I thought the next pitch was going to be a slider low and away, based on what I saw earlier in the week. Sure enough, Santana went low and away, getting the swinging strike (and you can briefly hear me say “There it is” at the end).
https://youtu.be/xA_lAbyyAJ0
When I saw him earlier in the week, I thought that high and inside pitch might have gotten away from him. When I saw it again tonight, in the same situation, I felt it was part of his strategy, and intentional. I talked with him briefly after the game, and he confirmed that this was the strategy, to change the eye level and move the ball up in the zone, then finish low.
That’s exactly what he did last time, starting in the middle, going to the top of the strike zone with strike two, throwing up and in, then dropping in a low slider for a swinging strike. Tonight, Santana worked low and away most of the at-bat, throwing one inside fastball that was fouled off. He then went upstairs high and inside, and finished back low and away with the slider.
I don’t want to make too much out of two at-bats, but this is some advanced stuff. Santana definitely has some things to focus on to maintain his control — he’s got a high effort delivery, a bit of an arm whip, and some head whacking action — but overall, his command of his pitches is good, to the point where it’s more likely that the high and inside pitches were intentional, rather than pitches that got away from him. His stuff has impressed me all year, with a mid-90s fastball that has good movement (partly due to the arm action), and a slider that is a plus pitch.
The scout I was talking with tonight follows the Pirates as one of his teams during the year. He said that he recommended Santana as a guy who can help a MLB bullpen right now, although it’s unlikely the Pirates would trade him, since they need help from a guy like Santana right now. I talked with Santana before the game, and he said he hasn’t been told yet whether he’ll be going to MLB Spring Training. I would expect that to happen though. He’s good enough that he could challenge for a spot on Opening Day, and will almost certainly make it up at some point in 2017.
All of this is impressive when you consider that Santana hadn’t even thrown a pitch or played baseball until age 19. He hadn’t thrown a slider until he joined pro ball in 2014. He just turned 25 a few weeks ago, but he’s only been throwing for six years, and has only been throwing the slider for three years. If he was 22, and started his career at age 16, we’d be talking about him as a future late inning reliever with closer potential. I don’t think his current age and situation should preclude that type of talk about his future potential.
