Ozzie Ball Posted December 9, 2009 Share Posted December 9, 2009 This year, for the first time, PITCHf/x was running for the Arizona Fall League. This gives us a wealth of data on what the pitchers in Arizona threw, from velocity to pitch locations, pitch movement etc. etc. and instead of having to rely on vague, second hand reports thrown at us from the likes of Phil Rogers, we can instead get an accurate and detailed look at each pitchers repertoire from the data provided. Unfortunately the White Sox did not send many pitchers of interest to the Arizona Fall League, but one player who did catch the eye was Sergio Santos. Santos is a former 1st round pick, he was selected number 27 overall in the 2002 first year payer draft by the Arizona Diamondbacks, but after stalling as an offensive prospect the White Sox signed him and converted him to pitching. In his first season off the mound Santos had some fairly mixed results, including an 8.16 ERA and a 6.38 BB/9 in 28.2 innings over four levels. There were some encouraging points for Santos, namely his 9.57 K/9 and a purported 99 mph fastball. The White Sox recently added Santos to the 40-man roster protecting him from this years Rule 5 Draft, so they obviously see something that they like in Sergio, but let's see what PITCHf/x has to say. Continued... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southsider2k5 Posted December 9, 2009 Share Posted December 9, 2009 Spectacular work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chisoxfn Posted December 9, 2009 Share Posted December 9, 2009 I loved the article as well. Very interesting piece, more interestingly, I didn't realize how good Santos secondary stuff was. We knew he had a live arm and a great fastball but having a nice slider is even better. He clearly has things to work on and is a long-shot, but all it takes is to be right once in a great while on these gambles (position changes) and they can pay off huge. Santos and Nathan Jones are clearly the two guys in the system most people would gloss over, but they are also two guys that if they put it all together, have the stuff to be shut-down relievers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jordan4life_2007 Posted December 9, 2009 Share Posted December 9, 2009 QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Dec 9, 2009 -> 05:00 PM) Spectacular work. Indeed. And I didn't know Santos had this kinda velocity. A curve that tops out at 87MPH? Impressive. I have zero expectations that he'll ever pan out to be anything. But if he does, gravy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southsider2k5 Posted December 9, 2009 Share Posted December 9, 2009 QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Dec 9, 2009 -> 05:35 PM) Indeed. And I didn't know Santos had this kinda velocity. A curve that tops out at 87MPH? Impressive. I have zero expectations that he'll ever pan out to be anything. But if he does, gravy. For a guy that is as behind the learning curve I would guess consistency and nagging type injuries would be the biggest issues. He is using muscles and tendons he hasn't really used in a long time, not to mention doing things to his body that it isn't used to. On top of that, he doesn't have the hundreds, maybe a thousand innings of "practice" that his peers do at this point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenny Hates Prospects Posted December 10, 2009 Share Posted December 10, 2009 (edited) Very nice piece. If nothing else it'll be fun watching him score knockdowns in Spring Training. Edit: Can you imagine a SS game where we start Harrell for 3, then go to Santos for 2, then Pena for 1, then Jones for 1, then Santeliz for 1, then Luis for 1? That would be like the Royal Rumble. Edited December 10, 2009 by Kenny Hates Prospects Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
witesoxfan Posted December 10, 2009 Share Posted December 10, 2009 What are the odds of a talented but raw arm like Santos going through waivers untouched? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southsider2k5 Posted December 10, 2009 Share Posted December 10, 2009 QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Dec 9, 2009 -> 07:59 PM) What are the odds of a talented but raw arm like Santos going through waivers untouched? I am guessing pretty slim if the Sox were willing to put him on the 40 man roster. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoxAce Posted December 10, 2009 Share Posted December 10, 2009 My goodness what a well informed piece that was. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
balfanman Posted December 10, 2009 Share Posted December 10, 2009 I really appreciated the piece as well. I don't claim to be a stat guy, mainly because I don't take the time to understand most of them, other than the basic ones (era, batting avg. rbi, etc.). I appreciated the explainations that went along with the graphs as well. It's one thing to look at information, quite another to understand it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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