CLEVELAND — Carlos Santana was understandably nervous about his impending free-agency. He was concerned over his lack of offensive production. He felt like he was trying do “too much.”
And while taking on that internal battle with himself, he was also fighting through some soreness in his foot after getting hit by a pitch earlier this month in Detroit, one that limited his effectiveness as a right-handed hitter.
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So, a few days ago, instead of dwelling on it and feeling trapped by those feelings, he attempted his best Elsa impersonation. He just let it go.
“I thought about it like, try to enjoy [it],” Santana said following Monday’s game. “My team, they need me. That is what I’m doing, trying to enjoy it and trying to work hard. I’m working hard every day, but not trying to try too much, put too much pressure on myself. That’s why I have felt much better the last five days.”
Recently, the Indians have seen a lot more of the Santana they hope emerges in the second half this season. His two home runs Monday night, his 11th and 12th of the season, helped his club defeat the Reds in a makeup game at Progressive Field, 6-2, the team’s fourth consecutive win. The switch-hitter slugged three homers and hit .429 in the four games against their in-state rivals this season, earning him the honor of being named the 2017 Ohio Cup’s Most Outstanding Player.
When told by a reporter of his coveted accomplishment, Santana got a big grin on his face.
“No,” he said, mostly confused. “Why?”
OK, fine. I get it. Maybe joining the ranks of past winners like Adam Dunn, Shin-Soo Choo, Jason Kipnis, Rajai Davis and Kristopher Negron doesn’t exactly hold the same weight as some of baseball’s other honors. But his big power display on Monday night does at least demonstrate Santana’s ability to change the game with one swing of the bat — or in this case, two.
“That’s really welcome,” manager Terry Francona said, “because he’ll play a huge part in us going forward.”
No kidding.
A turnaround would also mean a lot for Santana’s future. At the moment, it appears he’ll enter the offseason without a sense of what’s in front of him. While his early days playing professional baseball were with the Dodgers, he’s been with the Indians organization since being traded in 2008. Free-agency will be a new experience for Santana, a 31-year-old switch-hitter with an elite ability to get on base.
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As he admitted, the uncertainty hasn’t helped his current situation.
The Indians have been patiently waiting for the streaky Santana to finally hit one of those hot spells. Most of those periods in his career have felt like second-half breakouts, and for whatever reason, the narrative actually holds true: Santana has been a better second-half player.
Over his career, he owns a .238/.357/.424 slash line with a 116 wRC+ in the first half and a .258/.370/.462 slash line with a 130 wRC+ in the second half. If you’re scuffling for a good, logical reason for why that is, join the club. The best Francona and Santana’s teammates can come up with: the veteran hitter doesn’t seem to “wear down” as quickly as others.
Francona also pointed to a belief that the more at-bats Santana gets, the more productive he becomes. Maybe there’s an element of truth somewhere in those anecdotes. But for him to thrive and provide the type of game-changing offensive production they’ve been seeking this year, Santana has be in a good spot physically and mentally.
With his foot now feeling much better, the physical part seems to be improving. But the mental side? That can be more challenging. During Santana’s internal reflections, he thought back to some recent advice he received from a former Indians slugger and unlikely tutor, Manny Ramirez. Ramirez isn’t just one of the greatest Tribe hitters of all time, he was also one of baseball’s most dangerous right-handed sticks.
If there’s one thing he knows, it’s hitting. That’s some advice worth taking.
“Me and him, we have a good relationship,” Santana said. “He’s in Korea now. He told me, ‘Be patient. It’s a long season.’
“And he told me something positive. He told me to not worry about the past, worry about the present, [take it] one day at a time. Manny Ramirez is a great hitter, great player. I’ll listen a lot. But the last five days, I’ve been thinking about why I’ve been struggling. [I’ve got to stay] strong.”
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Santana said he met Ramirez in Florida. The two men are both from the Dominican Republic. But beyond their origins, Santana just enjoys picking his brain when it comes to the art of hitting.
“He likes me, I like him,” Santana said. “He’s a nice guy. He likes to talk about hitting all the time. And I listen. I try to learn … He helped me, and I’m appreciative of it.”
Whatever has been recently swimming through Santana’s brain, whether it’s the positive reinforcement provided by Ramirez or an ability to force out the cloudiness of the upcoming winter’s uncertainty, it appears to be working. He’s not out of the woods yet when it comes to his season totals (.241/.340/.423), but he is hitting .333 (19-for-57) over his past 16 games. He also reached seven times via walks over that span.
More patience would be encouraging, given his season walk rate (12.3 percent) has been the lowest of his career and well below his average percentage (15.2). At the same time, the power has also been below his career rate, leading an offensive output just two percent better than the league average through his first 406 plate appearances of the campaign.
Comparatively, things could certainly be far worse. Even when Santana performs well below expectations, he’s still a serviceable hitter that provides value. But he has never finished worse than eight percent better than average in any one season.
Last year’s 132 wRC+ (weighted runs created plus takes all the worthwhile parts of offensive stats and rolls them into one nifty number) tied his career high since taking over as a regular player. That makes his less than stellar 2017 stand out even more.
Much like we’ve written about the potential boost to the rotation provided by Danny Salazar, the greatest improvement the Tribe could make offensively likely comes from within. And with less than a week until the trade deadline, the bats are certainly an area the front office continues to monitor. If Santana is able to put together a more consistent second half — much like his career arc suggests he should — than the need to add a stick prior to July 31 is greatly diminished.
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“It would mean a lot,” Monday’s starter Josh Tomlin said. “Carlos is an intriguing player because he always has good at-bats … I know the average might not say what everybody wants it to say at this point, but he sees a lot of pitches, gets on base quite a bit, and he always has that ability to pop the ball out of the ballpark.”
While an improved final two months could help unlock the Indians’ full offensive potential, the one thing Santana won’t be doing in the meantime is trying to emulate Ramirez’s offensive style. He says he hasn’t watched any video of the right-handed hitter throughout any of his struggles this season. He plans to keep Ramirez’s influence limited to just words.
“We are different players,” Santana said. “But I feel more comfortable when he talks.”