Hector Santiago Panic/Apocalypse Thread

[Angel Oracle]

I was thinking the same thing. Lackey used to have blow ups his second and third years in the league.

Like Lackey in 2003, this is Santiago's first full MLB season as a starter.

[markb]

Santiago is a pretty emotional guy, as we've seen with his body language.  I don't think we should give up on him, because I still think in the end he's a 4.00ish ERA type of guy, but I think his head is so wrong right now that maybe skipping his turn 2 or 3 times will give him a chance to work things out.  

 

Not sure why people think Shoemaker is going to outpitch him, as nothing about the two's stats side-by-side indicates that'll happen, but a couple starts to give him a shot and see if he can stick as the long man can't hurt.  

[Chuck]

This whole idea that Shoemaker will somehow be better in the majors than AAA because "his stuff doesn't play in SLC" is, frankly, ludicrous.

Newsflash, the hitters in the majors are much better than those at AAA, and that is a much more important factor than the ballpark.

Also, regarding the earlier comment about Shoemaker's career 4.50 ERA.... You know that's from exactly one game, right? Against Seattle. In Anaheim. In the last weekend of the season.

Matt Shoemaker may prove to be a serviceable major league swing man (Jerome Williams) but there's no way he'll be as good as Hector Santiago in the long run.

Santiago had two starts with a bad back. Of the four since, two were good, one was so-so and one was bad. If he goes all year pitching in that proportion, you know what that makes him? A damn good No 5 starter.

 

He's been moved to the pen. 

 

Back to Shoemaker, he had just one start in September last season and looked good. He has looked great in relief as well.

 

His stuff is good enough to be a decent #5 guy IMO. You cannot look solely at numbers when pitching in the spacious ballparks and thin air in the PCL. 

[Jay]

When we obtained Santiago and Skaggs for Trumbo, I didn't have much faith that both would pan out.  It just seemed too good to be true.  I was hoping that maybe one of them would work out.  The fact that somehow both of them landed in our starting rotation speaks volumes about our pitching depth.  Now Santiago is a giant hole in the rotation and we're looking to fill it with Shoemaker?  That's the best we can do?

 

Self-bump of genious post.  Do I get bonus points for that?

[T.G.]

If we all police ourselves, Lou will be out of a job.

[SoWhat]

I just hope his drop in K's, velocity and low BABIP don't catch up to him soon

[Skram]

I liked this one better "Season isn't done but this is not a playoff team, not even close to it"

[Blarg]

Self-bump of genious post. Do I get bonus points for that?

Santiago has 21 starts with a 3.38 ERA, third best of the rotation, second best if you take into account Richards is done for the season.

No.

[m0nkey]

Someone missed it

[Jay]

whoosh right over his head.

[tomsred]

This season is done. Let Santiago take his knocks every five days and learn. He'll be a crafty and grizzled vet by next year.

My personal favorite, brought to you by the legendary brewer.

[Guest]

Didn't Hector get sent down to AAA after I made this thread?

 

He's been lights out since that AAA stint. I can understand bumping one of the many defeatist threads from earlier this season or a meltdown by AO...but this thread is pretty level-headed.

 

The topic title was intended to be hyperbolic/AW-esque. 

[Guest]

I liked this one better "Season isn't done but this is not a playoff team, not even close to it"

The Angels were not a playoff contending team when this thread was created. Jerry DiPoto is a ****ing genius and he managed to address nearly every weakness in record time. He built a bullpen out of scratch, made excellent trades, he brought the game's best closer, and got really lucky with some of our stellar rookies.

When this season started, the bullpen was beyond pathetic–there was no chance for a playoff run with those arms.