Andrew Posted April 26, 2011 Share Posted April 26, 2011 I wonder if the Sox PLAYERS actually care this much about reeling an outlier in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnCangelosi Posted April 26, 2011 Share Posted April 26, 2011 When was the last time Santos saw some action in a game? Obviously Ozzie thought he was well rested, could get 4 outs and went ahead and went with him. Personally I agree with the move he made as he hasn't given up a run this year and when you have a 1-10 record in your last 11 and a 1-0 lead in Yankee stadium you put your best guy out there to get 4 outs, period. It's an easy call to say Sergio has been our best out of the pen this year. It sucks we don't have the confidence in anyone else right now but it is what it is, when you have a guy in your pen with a 0.00 era so far this year and everyone else pretty much has blown a lead late, I think it's a pretty easy decision. Of course we cannot have him for 4 out saves all year but special circumstances call for special action. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
witesoxfan Posted April 26, 2011 Share Posted April 26, 2011 (edited) It is amazing to consider that Santos is really getting by on talent alone at this point. He threw 28.2 innings in the minors in 2009 (and was pretty terrible), 51.2 last year and has now thrown 11 this year. That's 90.1 IP in his entire professional career - you don't have a great understanding of how to pitch with that little experience on the mound. It should get better as he gains more experience too, and I think his arm will hold up better this year as well now that he has a few more innings on it overall. I do hope that he begins to mix his pitches up a little better in the future though. I mentioned it in the winner thread, but he's pretty easy to predict right now. If the count is even or worse, he's coming with a fastball (the only pitch I didn't see that was Teixeira, on like a 1-0 count...he went with a pitch that looked like it had 2-seam movement on it, but came in at like 87, so I'm not sure what it was...may have been his changeup - EDIT: looking on TexasLeaguers, it was most definitely his changeup). If he is ahead in the count or it's at 2-2, he's coming with the slider, which, for the most part, is a pretty unhittable pitch because he rarely seems to elevate it. It also seems that it's rarely a strike, so if the hitters can lay off, they can work the count full pretty quickly. What I'd like to see him do is use the slider just a little more early in the count just to get the hitter guessing a bit more and then using his fastball later in the count to blow hitters away. He's not Tony Pena with a 92 MPH fastball - he's got legitimate heat that hitters won't be able to catch up with. For the time being, he is absolutely the best choice to close ballgames. Edited April 26, 2011 by witesoxfan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts