The O's player that produced a nice combo of contact and power

Power hitters generally strike out at a pretty good rate. That is the trend in baseball over many years. But at a time when strikeout rates all around the sport are up, putting the ball in play more often is valued. Doing that with power is potentially something special.

The Orioles have a player who in the shortened 2020 season showed the ability to strike out less while still hitting the ball with plenty of authority. On his way to winning the Most Valuable Oriole award, Anthony Santander decreased his strikeout rate from 2019 to 2020 from 21.2 to 15.2 percent. And while he was fanning less he posted a slugging percentage of .575, so he was hitting with power. He also used the full diamond better in 2020, as we will see as well.

In 37 games, Santander batted .261/.315/.575 with 13 doubles, one triple, 11 homers, 24 runs and 32 RBIs along with an OPS of .890. His OPS was over 1.000 on Aug. 22 but he hit just .186 his last 10 games. Santander led the American League in extra-base hits on Sept. 5 when he was done for the year with a strained left oblique. The strikeouts were fewer but the extra-base hits were rising.

His combination of making a lot of contact and doing it with power in 2020 was quite impressive, and he was keeping very good company in that regard. Among players in the AL that had 160 or more plate appearances in 2020 (Santander had 165) and ranked among the top 25 in best strikeout rate, just three other players had a slugging percentage of .540 or better. Those three all finished in the top 13 in voting for the Most Valuable Player Award. Santander had the 14th-best strikeout rate in the league among players with 160 or more PAs.

The Yankees' DJ LeMahieu had a K rate of 9.7 percent, among the very best. He batted .364/.421/.590 with a 1.011 OPS and finished third for the MVP award.

Cleveland's José Ramírez had a K rate of 16.9. He batted .292/.386/.607 with a .993 OPS and finished second to José Abreu of the Chicago White Sox.

George Springer of Houston posted a K rate of 17.1 and batted .265/.359/.540 with an .899 OPS. He was 13th in the MVP voting in the AL.

Santander, with that 15.2 K rate, produced an .890 OPS. During the year, 25 of his 40 hits were for extra bases: 13 doubles, one triple and 11 homers. His 47 hard-hit balls (95 mph or more) were the third-most on the O's, according to FanGraphs.com.

Among Orioles with 100 or more plate appearances, he had the third-best K rate behind only José Iglesias at 11.3 and Hanser Alberto at 13.0. At the other end of that list were DJ Stewart and Chance Sisco with K rates of 33.9.

When he discussed winning Most Valuable Oriole in late September, Santander talked about a better strikeout rate for the season.

"I think it's part of the hard work that you put in," Santander said. "Usually, power hitters tend to strike out a lot. So whenever I'm behind in the count and I have two strikes, I try to simplify my approach and not do too much with it. Take advantage of what is given to me and just go with the pitch. I think it's part of the hard work that you put in."

Having a good strikeout rate and putting balls in play is a good thing. If you can do that and hit for power too, it can be a really good thing. Santander did that in 2020 and it bodes well his future.

He also lowered his groundball rate from 40 to 25 percent from 2019 to 2020, and yes, it was in the sample of just 37 games. His line-drive percentage increased from 22.8 to 38.3 percent, according to Fangraphs.com.

And he used the whole field more in 2020. The 2019 stats show he pulled the ball 43 percent, hit up the middle 33 and to the opposite field 24 percent. Last summer he pulled the ball 36 percent, up the middle 32 and went oppo 32 percent.

All these numbers are solid for a young player that is a switch-hitter. One driven to be good and one starting to realize his vast potential.