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    Short Change?


    Nick Nelson

    Regression was expected for Danny Santana following a charmed rookie season, but few could have guessed it would hit him as hard as it has right out of the gate.

    In 42 plate appearances over his first 10 games of the season, the 24-year-old has eight hits (seven singles), 13 strikeouts and zero walks. For the most part, he has looked totally overmatched at the plate.

    On Sunday, Santana got his second day off of the season. Eduardo Escobar, starting at shortstop in his place, went 1-for-4 with an RBI single.

    Image courtesy of Rick Osentoski, USA Today

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    The Twins generally tend to exercise patience with slumping players, and that's what you usually like to see with a guy as young as Santana, but there are several mitigating factors in his case that could press Paul Molitor to take action.

    First, he's in that leadoff spot, batting directly in front of the best hitters in the lineup and consistently taking terrible at-bats. That's tough to stomach. Of course, you can simply slide him down, and that step will probably be taken ahead of sending him to the minors.

    But the bigger concern might be Santana's defense. He has already committed three errors in 10 games, and has looked shaky by and large. Former shortstop Roy Smalley commented during one Fox Sports North broadcast last week that it was obvious Santana has spent some time away from the position because he appeared rusty in many regards. That's the developmental cost of using him in center field for much of 2014.

    With the Twins focused on playing strong defense behind their pitchers, there won't be much tolerance for inadequate glove work at short. They know what Escobar brings to the table defensively, and while he hasn't hit much early on himself, he's coming off an excellent spring and a productive '14 campaign.

    The season is only two weeks old, but Santana fills vital roles both offensively and defensively and he's been nowhere near up to snuff in either regard. His tremendous rookie season is offset by a lengthy minor-league record of mediocrity, so I'll be curious to see how long of a leash it really buys him.

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    BTW, has anybody else notice that Trevor Plouffe so far this season is doing a good imitation of an All-Star third baseman? His fielding seems much better, and he really looks like he's "figured some things out" at the plate. Right now Plouffe and Torii Hunter look like the best field position players on the team, along with Escobar, who has no permanent position, but maybe should be the SS rather than Santana...

    Plouffe's defense got noticeably better last year as did his offense.  I'm not sure it's even better this year. He won't be an all star.  There are quite a few better than him in the AL.  That doesn't take away from Plouffe's hard work paying off though.

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    From Grantland.........

    Worst of all might be Danny Santana, who ranks last in the majors in DRS and has somehow already cost his team six runs on defense in just 12 games. Thanks to a seemingly excellent rookie season in 2014, Santana won the Opening Day shortstop job, but his shiny .319/.353/.472 effort last year can largely be chalked up to a tremendously flukish .405 batting average on balls in play. In 2014, Santana struck out five times more than he walked, and he projected as one of MLB’s most likely regression candidates heading into this season. Instead of a gentle pullback, the early returns have been brutal: a .195 batting average, just one extra-base hit, 13 strikeouts, and no walks in 42 times at bat. Throw in the rough fielding and Santana might be the worst player in the majors through these first two weeks.

    The old adage that there's no such thing as bad publicity may be put to the test here.

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