10-9
10. Carlos Santana (Cleveland Indians)
| 3.0 WAR | 158 G | 688 PA | .259 BA | .366 OBP | 31 2B | 34 HR | .498 SLG | .865 OPS | 99 SO | 99 BB | 36.3% Hard Contact |
Terry Francona made the decision to keep Santana at first base this season, while placing Edwin Encarnacion as the team’s everyday designated hitter. Santana, who started his career as a catcher, has kind of flown under the radar because of the growth of Francisco Lindor and just the depth at the first base position. Santana will turn 31 this May, so the slugger is no longer a spring chicken. He did hit better than he ever has in 2016. With an outstanding 1:1 K-BB ratio and 34 bombs to his name, it’s clear that Santana is a middle of the order bat in any lineup. Combine this with a high on-base and slugging percentage and you get a guy who clearly has figured out MLB pitching after spending a few years in the show.
I’ve always personally thought that Santana’s swing got a little too wild, but there is no doubt that he knows what he’s doing in the batter’s box. I really don’t expect his batting average to be as high but if he can hit .250, keep his K-BB ratio consistent and hit around 25 homers, that would make for an above average year.
9. Chris Davis (Baltimore Orioles)
| 3.0 WAR | 157 G | 665 PA | .221 BA | .332 OBP | 21 2B | 38 HR | .459 SLG | .792 OPS | 219 SO | 88 BB | 40.3% Hard Contact |
Chris Davis is a combination of pure awe and also pure frustration. At times, the menacing left-handed first baseman looks like he just can’t be stopped, hitting home runs to all parts of the ballpark and pretty much getting a solid piece of any pitch even if it’s out of the strike zone. This is the guy that lead MLB in home runs twice over the past four years. Then there’s the other Chris Davis. This player strikes out once in every two at bats and is swinging at pitches that are constantly in the dirt.
Balance these two players and you get a guy that could really go either way at any time while still giving you really the same production come season’s end. In what was considered a “down” season, Davis launched closed to 40 balls over the fence and posted a tremendous hard contact percentage of 40.3 percent. While he does rack up the K’s, he still does well to walk at a high rate too. I expect a somewhat bounceback season from the Orioles slugger as that seems to be the pattern that he is going on in recent times.