Santana's run production in the middle of the order.. is too valuable.. at the same time, his ability to get on base says lead off.. Perhaps there's another name that can be considered.. but only against off handed pitchers: Jordan Luplow.. His .320/.439/1.181 triple slash v LHP's is about as good as it gets on the Indians. Add to the fact that against LHP's as a starter, he'd almost guarantee two AB's before the opposing manager would be able to bring in a RHP.. This type of micro-managed exploitation of a players ability will be much more important in the sprint that should be the 2020 season?
Santana can lead off against RHP's.. This works very well as Carlos is vastly more patient against RHP's than LHP's... That is, he derives a much greater portion of his BB's by an almost 2:1 margin versys RHP's thereby allowing the hitters coming behind him to see more/most of any pitcher's arsenal for that day?
Thoughts?..
Thoughts?