After never rising above Double-A, Antonio Santos has reached the big leagues this shortened season. In two games so far (as I write this), he has been hit hard. What do his minor league numbers tell us to expect in the future?
- Born: October 6, 1996
- B/T: Right/Right
- 6’3″, 223-lbs
- Signed by the Colorado Rockies in 2015 out of the Dominican Republic
The Numbers
His raw numbers are listed above courtesy of baseball-reference.com. Let’s aggregate by year then focus on the important numbers for minor leaguers:
He’s young, and he was making normal progress, level by level, until this year brought things to a halt.
I have to say, I love seeing numbers improve year by year, level by level, in every category but walks (which have never been bad). So the reds of 2017 start to fade in 2018, and then are gone entirely by 2019. This is a pitcher who is beginning to get a clue.
Remember, he did all this as a starting pitcher, not a reliever.
I see no real problems in these splits which seem to go back and forth.
There’s that K-BB% line, which he had trouble reaching in 2017, then exceeded in 2018, and held that progress in 2019. It’s not a dominating level, but it’s a decent level.
The Scouts
- Rotowire: Not on their Top 400.
- BaseballHQ: Not on their Top 100.
- Fangraphs: Not on their Top 120.
- Fantasy Six Pack: Not on their dynasty list.
- Prospects365: Not on Ray Butler’s Top 200.
- Imaginary Brick Wall: Not on the Top 487.
- Fantrax: Not on the Top 250.
Warnings
The progress is encouraging, but we want to see that continue so that his strikeout rate increases to give himself a better chance.
How will this lost year affect his progress? It would great to see him have a full year spent at AA and then AAA, consolidating those skills.
As we see, the scouts aren’t that interested.
Conclusion
Santos has talent, current results notwithstanding. He just needs more time to perfect his craft, something he’s trying to do on the biggest stage of all, when what he really needs is some coaching at AA and AAA while he’s 22 and 23 years of age.