OF Domingo Santana – Milwaukee Brewers
Many might remember Santana as the prospect the Phillies accidentally traded to the Astros in 2011. He is also remembered as part of the prospect package the Astros sent to the Brewers a year ago for Mike Fiers and Carlos Gomez. Now, as a member of the Brewers organization, Santana finds himself in a position where he might get his first real taste of extended MLB playing time.
As of today the Brewers outfield is likely to include Khris Davis, Kirk Nieuwenhuis, and Ryan Braun. However, the Brewers are unlikely to compete this season, and it would make sense for them to eventually give some of their high level prospects a look. There is also the potential that Milwaukee could trade an established player, like Davis, thus opening up regular playing time for Santana.
Chris Mitchell of Fangraphs provided a helpful scouting report on Santana in June of 2015. He paints the picture of a high risk/high reward player who flashes above average power, but has a disappointing contact rate.
During his 52 games with Houston and Milwaukee a year ago he had a 33.7 K%. This was well above the league average of 20 percent. In spite of this, his total offensive production was above league average (110 wRC+).
Santana will certainly frustrate some fans with his propensity to strikeout, but if he can continue to hit the ball hard and draw walks the production should be there. The two biggest questions for Santana heading into the season will be whether or not he can consistently hit major league pitching, and if the Brewers will give him enough of an opportunity this year.
Next: OF Michael Conforto - New York Mets