Santander works to improve his game, plus other notes

Coming off an outstanding season, one that earned him the Most Valuable Oriole award even though he only played in 37 of the 60 games, Orioles right fielder Anthony Santander is now working on ways to take his game to an even higher level.

In 2020, he batted .261/.315/.575 in 165 plate appearances with 13 doubles, 11 homers, 32 RBIs and an .890 OPS. His OPS was over 1.000 before his bat cooled off late in his year. A year that ended for him on Sept. 5, when he went on the injured list with a strained right oblique.

At the time of his injury he was leading the American League in extra-base hits. He was also tied for second in doubles, third in total bases (88), tied for third in RBIs, sixth in slugging percentage and tied for sixth in home runs.

Now after that good season he works to get even better. The improvement could come via better plate discipline. After a 2020 season when he improved his strikeout rate, this could be a season with an improved walk rate.

Through last night's game Santander is batting .263 this spring (5-for-19), but he's tied for the team lead in walks with seven, for a .462 on-base percentage.

"I just think he realizes and understands what he can do from a damage standpoint when he swings at strikes," said O's manager Brandon Hyde. "I know that he feels like he gets himself out sometimes, so he's trying to shrink his strike zone a little bit. Get some pitches he can drive. He's fouling a lot of balls off too. I like his two-strike approach right now where he's in battle mode and buying walks because he is able to spoil some pitches. I think for a guy like him that is going to be a regular and hit in the middle of the order, to see as many pitches as possible and to understand the strike zone is the biggest thing."

Last year Santander's strikeout rate dropped to 15.2, down from 21.2 the previous season. Now he seems on the way to improving a walk rate that was 4.7 in 2019 and 6.1 last year, meaning he walked in 6.1 percent of his plate appearances.

As Hyde pointed out, beyond whatever number of walks he can draw, the bigger factor for Santander may be swinging only at the most hittable strikes. Those so-called center-cut pitches where he can do the most damage. Take borderline strikes unless he's at a two-strike count and wait for a better pitch.

Beyond the plate-discipline stats, Santander's defense was also a plus in 2020. His four outfield assists led the club and as a right fielder were tied for the fourth-most in baseball. His eight Defensive Runs Saved were the second-most among American League right fielders, according to Sports Info Solutions. In Outs Above Average, he improved from 170th in MLB in 2019 to 32nd in 2020. He was a Gold Glove finalist in the AL.

Lefties could rule on opening day: When the Orioles open the 2021 season on April 1 at Boston, left-hander John Means is expected to be the O's starter and Boston's opening day pitcher will be former O's minor leaguer Eduardo Rodríguez. Boston made that announcement yesterday.

Rodríguez missed the entire 2020 season due to myocarditis. This will be his first opening day start.

He's having a solid spring, holding the Twins to one run and two hits over five innings yesterday. He is 2-0 with a 2.31 ERA in spring training. Over 11 2/3 innings he has 14 strikeouts and no walks.

Rodríguez appeared to be on his way to becoming the first-ever Venezuelan amateur signed by the Orioles to make it to the major leagues with them. But he was traded for pitcher Andrew Miller at the 2014 trade deadline and Miller helped the Orioles win the American League East.

On the O's watch, Rodríguez became a top 100 prospect. He was signed by former O's pitcher Calvin Maduro for $175,000 at age 17. He was the No. 65 prospect in the top 100 in 2014.

In the 2019 season, he pitched like the pitcher the O's thought he could be. He went 19-6 with a 3.81 ERA over 203 1/3 innings.

As for Means, click here to read his quotes after his solid outing last night against Atlanta. Click here to check out how Maikel Franco's first Zoom press conference as an Oriole went.