Milwaukee Brewers: Checking in on Domingo Santana

The Milwaukee Brewers entered the 2018 season with a plethora of options in the outfield.

One of those outfielders, Domingo Santana, burst onto the scene during last season with some big numbers for the Milwaukee Brewers. However, the team signed Lorenzo Cain to a multi-year deal and traded for Christian Yelich during the Winter creating a bit of a logjam in the outfield.

With the outfield being crowed, the onus was on Santana to step up and earn the everyday right field job for The Crew. Unfortunately, Santana came out of the gates slow and wasn’t able to get things rolling early.

The soon to be 26-year-old hit just .249 through the first 62 games of the season. Even worse, he struck out 69 times with just 17 runs batted in and three home runs in 211 plate appearances. That’s a far cry from the .278 batting average, 30 home runs and 85 runs batted in that he posted during the 2017 season.

The Milwaukee Brewers optioned Santana to Triple-A in late June in hopes that he can rediscover his swing. Let’s take a look at how he’s doing with Colorado Springs and what the future could for him.

What Santana’s been up to

He has a much better .287/.413/.447 slash line through his first 31 games with the Sky Sox. Santana has a .858 on-base plus slugging percentage, as opposed to .667 in the Majors, and he’s been more consistent getting on base. However, the issue for Santana has been strikeouts and he’s still struggling in that regard.

The Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic native currently has a 31.7% strikeout rate and that number is far too high. However, that’s right in line with his 32.7% strikeout rate so maybe that just how this season will be for him. Hopefully, these issues don’t continue in future seasons because he will be needed in the outfield soon.

Looking ahead

Ryan Braun is in the twilight of his career and although he can still play in the outfield, he shouldn’t after this season. His transition to first base has gone much better than anticipated and that’s where his future should lie. The Hebrew Hammer has also lost some thump in his bat during this season, but he has also been unlucky at times. He’s still a solid option in clutch moments and brings a lot to the table when he’s healthy.

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The Milwaukee Brewers have two of the best outfielders in the National League in Cain and Yelich but finding the right fit in right field is important. Yelich can easily transition to right and handle the position like a boss. However, he doesn’t look comfortable when he has been out there whereas Santana has done a solid job during his time in right field in the past.

Although he doesn’t make the flashy plays defensively, Santana has been solid in the field throughout his career. His arm is plenty strong to make a difference and if he gets a glove on the ball he usually makes the play.

Milwaukee has Corey Ray making noise in the Minors and his impact should be felt in the near future. However, the window of contention has opened in The Cream City and it’s risky to depend on unproven players in a stretch run. The next two months will be crucial for Santana in determining his future with The Crew.

Santana has plenty of time to figure things out at the MLB level and Milwaukee can afford to be patient. However, it sure would be nice to have him producing for The Crew during this playoff run but there’s still time for that to happen this season.