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Ervin Santana missed the first five weeks of the baseball season after a breakthrough 2008 campaign. Since his return, owners have been "rewarded" with an 0-2 record, 7.82 ERA and an atrocious 2.13 WHIP. This isn't exactly what fantasy owners who patiently waited on his return had in mind. Santana went 16-7 with a 3.49 ERA and 1.12 WHIP last season. He struck out 214 batters in 219 innings pitched. The 25-year-old finished sixth in Cy Young voting. Thus, heading into his prime, he should have been ready to build upon the stellar work. Instead, he's slumping (or does he suck?).
First of all, I think it's too early to judge Santana. Remember, he was coming off an injury in his pitching arm and he's only had three starts. Angels manager Mike Scioscia insists Santana is healthy, and I believe him. More likely, Santana's just building up his strength like the last few weeks of spring training for first week of the regular season. This line of thinking was echoed by a scout who informed FanHouse's Jeff Fletcher of his early findings on Santana. To summarize what the scout told Fletcher:
- Santana's velocity has been down across the board, which not only affects his powerful fastball, but also his biting slider. Neither has been near as effective this season so far.
- He hasn't used his change-up much [ed. note: which probably correlates to his loss in velocity, meaning it wouldn't be as effective anyway].
- Despite the loss in velocity and overall stuff, Santana has shown that he's learning how to pitch -- this is in specific reference to his second start -- in terms of changing speeds, locations and keeping his slider down in the zone.
- When his velocity comes back, it is the opinion of this scout he'll be the exact same pitcher as last season.
What I take from this report is that you can expect even better things from Santana when he gets his strength back. Learning to pitch without stuff and then rediscovering stuff is a deadly combination. Let the rest of the AL West be put on notice.
Santana's next start is against the Mariners, who are dead-last in the American League in runs scored and have a nice set of windmills -- like Russell Branyan, Franklin Gutierrez and Adrian Beltre -- in the lineup. The stage is set for a big breakout outing.
Ervin Santana is simply starting the season in a slump. If you don't own him and his owner has grown frustrated and mistakenly believes Ervin sucks, it sounds like the perfect time to pull off a fantasy felony. That, my friends, is how you win leagues.
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