Time To Worry About Sergio Santos?
Sergio Santos is a reliever I have been touting all winter, and a few bad performances are not going to change that. There are, however, some concerns after his first three outings as a Blue Jay.
His command has been non-existent in the two save attempts and one other appearance he has had this year — walking four batters and striking out just one. His fastball velocity is also down a mile per hour, which is worth noting but likely will not be an issue going forward.
Thankfully, Santos will get a bit of a breather and will be out until Saturday as his child is being born. A bit of time off might help him clear his head and hopefully he will come back strong.
His lack of a choke hold spot on the closer role is at least somewhat disconcerting. If Santos were closing games Blue Jays for the past three years, the poor performance over this small stretch might not be as worrisome. The Blue Jays possess a number of relievers who could reasonably fill the role of closer, so it is not as if Santos has no competition. Francisco Cordero is not necessarily a quality pitcher, but he has closer experience which managers are often attracted to. Jason Frasor has 36 career saves with the Blue Jays, and Casey Janssen is a sturdy reliever. Santos is easily the best option of the bunch if he is on, but these pitchers could all feasibly take over the role if Santos fails.
Instead, this is John Farrell’s first look at him on a regular basis and a slew of bad outings could force Farrell’s hand. Last year, Frank Francisco was removed from the closer role at times due to poor performances. This is just Santos’s fourth year as a pitcher, so it would be understandable for the Blue Jays to closely monitor the situation. If he blows a few more saves upon his return to the team, how could anyone blame the Jays for at least temporarily removing him from the position?
I still have faith in Santos, though. His walk rate will likely never be too impressive, which will lead to the occasional blown save, but his strikeouts should help counter that balance. I will be monitoring his velocity to see if the slight drop continues, and paying close attention to his command is also recommended. Do not lose faith in him just yet, but pay close attention to see if his poor performance is an aberration or a continuing trend.
Ben has been at RotoGraphs since 2012 and focuses most of his fantasy baseball attention toward dynasty and keeper leagues.
The one thing that you didn’t mention which is relevant here is that the Blue Jays traded for Santos over the winter, and that they presumably see him as their long term closer – the Jays have him under control for the next six seasons if they want. I think it’s pretty unlikely that they give up on that because of a couple of poor outings early on. Even if they are forced into a change, I’d guess it may be a short term thing until Santos gets back on the rails.
I agree with your close, but the Jays signed Cordero for a reason. They wanted a proven closer in the mix in case Santos has some issues. Sure, Santos is their long term guy, but the article is about the current situation, not a dynasty league.
And to Ben, Cordero was actually pretty good last year, so saying he is ‘not necessarily a quality pitcher’ seems like a reach.