Hector Santiago had one of the most frustrating yet somehow successful seasons we’ve seen from an Angels pitcher in some time. Is it just going to be more of the same for the southpaw in 2015?
What happened in 2014?
Arrgh! happened for Santiago in 2014. Seriously, there were just so many times last season where Hector Santiago made me want to pull my hair out and I think that is a sentiment shared by many other fans and quite likely members of the Angels coaching staff as well.
Hector was a disaster in the rotation to start the year and earned himself a demotion to the minors. He worked his way back to the majors relatively quickly. The Angels never really seemed to want him back in the rotation, but circumstances demanded it.
Santiago may as well have been a reliever since Scioscia never let him work deep as a starter. Hector’s messy mechanics were so unreliable that he never was able to last long enough to pitch more than six innings. Part of that was a lack of pitch efficiency, but part of that was Scioscia just not trusting Santiago to turn the lineup over for a fourth time, or even a third time on certain nights.
At the end of the year, Hector Santiago somehow ended up with respectable 3.75 ERA, which is almost illogical for those of us who actually watched him pitch all season long.
[table id=75 /] *The MWAH projections are simply my best guess based off my own personal opinion and research (my wOBA calculation is approximate because my math skills are only “meh”)
What do the projections think he will do in 2015?
Because Hector Santiago has made a career out of putting up average numbers despite below average peripherals, the projection systems are mostly buying that he can pull off his unique brand of overachievement once again. Steamer is a little more down on him than ZiPS and CAIRO, but they are in general agreement that it will be another season of a lot of walks and dingers and not a lot of innings.
Does the Monkey agree or disagree?
Let me first be clear about one thing, I don’t like Hector Santiago. Not personally, I’m sure he’s a very nice man. I just can’t stand his game. There are some good things there, but there’s also enough missing. Factor in his wild inconsistency and I just can’t handle how frustrating his performance is and, honestly, how awful he is too watch.
Now that I’ve said that, I somehow have a projection better than any of the other systems. I have an excuse though: I think Hector is going to spend most of the year in the bullpen and actually be pretty good there. Part of what I dislike about Santiago is that as a starter, he’s just a big ol’ slop bucket. He throws six (SIX!) pitches and none of them are particularly good. He currently doesn’t have a punch-out pitch, but I’ve got a belief (and I do mean belief as I don’t really have evidence to support it) that he can move to the bullpen full-time, focus on a stripped down pitch mix, face a lot more lefties and become an above average reliever.
THREE OPEN QUESTIONS FOR HECTOR SANTIAGO IN 2015
1) Is Hector Santiago better off as a reliever or a starter?
Well, I obviously just said I think he’s better off as a reliever, but that’s more wishcasting than anything. Historically speaking, he hasn’t been that much better in relief. His slash line against is better, but not by much. However, he actually has a worse FIP, worse walk rate and sees no real improvement in his whiff rate or home run rate. His stuff just doesn’t seem to play up significantly, which might have a lot to do with that lack of a go-to secondary pitch I mentioned.
He also isn’t a lefty that is so much better against lefties that he’d clearly excel in a specialized role. In fact, it is that exact reason that he might be better in the rotation as he can hold his own against righties. The big problem is that his mechanics are freaking trainwreck. He can’t keep them together for more than a few innings at a time, making him prone to big innings and quick exits. No team can survive a season with a starter that can never pitch into the sixth innings. It is just too taxing on the bullpen.
Those mechanical issues should thus make him an ideal bullpen candidate since he only needs to keep things together for an inning or two. Which now brings us back full circle to not know whether or not he really should be in the bullpen. Welcome to the circular logic trap that is Hector Santiago.
2) Has he really solved his mechanical issues?
According to Hector Santiago, he has. Color me skeptical. I’m glad that he has identified a few possible mechanical causes-and-effects, but that doesn’t mean he’s fixed them. He needs to either be able to avoid those flaws altogether or be so in tune to his delivery that he can recognize those mechanical flaws in the middle of the game for this knowledge to actually pay off. I’ll believe it when I see it.
3) Does he even know that baseball games last more than six innings?
This is getting into existential territory because it requires him to have faith in something that he has not seen with his own eyes. He’s only heard tale of the mythical seventh, eighth and ninth inning. Only if he is a truly devout to the gods of baseball can we know if he believes in life after the sixth inning.
The Final Word (and GIF)
“RAGE!”
This is how I feel every single Hector Santiago start.
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