Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Going Down

No one really knows what’s going on with Ervin Santana. Whatever it is, the Angels are hoping that he can figure it out in triple-A.

On Wednesday the Los Angeles Angels sent Santana down to triple-A Salt Lake to straighten himself out and calm his nerves, at least for hi starts away from home. The dichotomy of Santana’s season has been remarkable to say the least.

Many players will do better on the road or vice versa. However, for Santana, the discrepancy between the two was cavernous. Santana posted a respectable 3.42 ERA in Los Angeles over 52.2 innings, pitching in the friendly confines of Angel Stadium. He started 8 games and allowed 52 hits, 20 earned runs, only 14 walks and 38 strikeouts and in the process went 4-2. As a member of the visiting team, things were vastly different.

While on the road, Santana started 11 games. He pitched 57.1 innings, only 4.2 more than at home, allowed 84 hits, 32 more than at home and had an ERA of 8.79. I genuinely do not understand how one man can be so good at home and so unspeakably and unfathomably terrible on the road.

The likely replacement for Santana in Joe Saunders. Saunders has been struggling some in Triple-A but was stellar in his infrequent starts in the Majors. It should be interesting to keep an eye on this Santana situation though as he was so good last year and looked to form one of the best young pitching tandems in baseball alongside Jered Weaver. Now, the Angels are just hoping he can become a productive member of their team again as they prepare to enter the playoffs.

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