[新聞] Secret Santana
※ [本文轉錄自 NY-Yankees 看板]
作者: xiemark (aisinjuro) 看板: NY-Yankees
標題: [新聞] Secret Santana
時間: Wed Jul 4 14:17:33 2007
Secret Santana
Wednesday, July 04, 2007
BY ED PRICE
Star-Ledger Staff
NEW YORK -- If Hideki Matsui is correct, there is a pretty simple way to
hit Johan Santana.
"You've just got to wait for a certain pitch," said Matsui, who has a
.385 career average against Santana. "Just focus on waiting for a
fastball, waiting for a changeup, and so forth.
"It's not difficult. It's the same with any other pitcher, really."
Most hitters, though, have trouble. Santana, the Minnesota Twins' ace
left-hander who is scheduled to start against the Yankees today, has won
two of the past three American League Cy Young Awards. Since the start
of the 2003 season, he leads baseball in wins (76), strikeouts (1,037)
and winning percentage (.731).
And the Yankees are not catching him at the right time (for them).
Santana has won three straight starts, with a 0.86 ERA over that span.
And for his career, he is at his best from June 1 on: 67-21 with a 2.72
ERA and .204 average allowed.
Yet he can be hit.
"He's made more mistakes with me than anybody else, I guess," said San
Francisco catcher Bengie Molina, whose .478 average (11-for-23) against
Santana is the best of any player with 20 or more at-bats. "If he's not
the best pitcher in baseball, he's probably one of the three toughest."
Santana throws three pitches: a fastball, a slider and a changeup. It's
the changeup that makes him so hard to hit. Because his "arm action" on
his fastball and changeup are so similar, and the difference in
velocities so great (about 12-14 mph), hitters get fooled.
"It's one thing to know when the changeup's coming," said an advance
scout for an AL team, "because he is kind of predictable in certain
counts with the changeup. But you still can't hit the damn thing because
his changeup is so good."
Hitters call Santana's version a "four-seam" changeup. While most
changeups have a slight break, his drops straight down.
The scout, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was
discussing another team's player, said he advises his team to try to lay
off Santana's low changeup and force him to throw it above the knees.
"It looks like it will stay at the knees, like a two-strike fastball,"
the scout said. "Then all of a sudden the bottom falls out and you're
reaching for something that's not there.
"If the changeup is up in the zone, at least you can make a good pass at
it."
Told he has good numbers against Santana -- 5-for-8 -- Baltimore's Chris
Gomez said, "I do?"
Said Gomez, "He's the type of guy you don't want a long at-bat, don't
want to get behind in the count, because he's got so many pitches he can
strike you out with. You've got to hope to get a fastball on the first
pitch and try to jump on it."
Toronto's Troy Glaus (7-for-18, .389) said he tries to hit the first
strike he sees from Santana.
"He's got so many pitches that I call 'swing-and-miss' pitches," Glaus
said. "There are pitches you're going to hit and hit poorly, and there
are others you're going to miss. He's got more than one 'miss' pitch.
You can swing and miss at all of them. If you're the one he throws three
or four nasty ones to, you're pretty much (finished)."
Molina has a simpler approach.
"I'm a swinger," he said. I'm a guy who likes to swing the bat. I don't
know anything. I couldn't tell you anything. I don't have a plan against
him or nothing.
"If he makes his pitches, you've got no chance. Anybody."
Attacking the first pitch can prove to be useful. Opposing batters have
a .309 average against Santana when they put the first pitch in play.
After that, the average drops to .208 -- .196 if Santana gets ahead 0-1.
"The only secret I have is that he throws a lot of strikes," said
Baltimore's Jay Gibbons, who is 8-for-15 off Santana, with four doubles
and a homer. "He'll give you something to hit early in the count, and
you can't miss it."
Gibbons' 1.000 slugging percentage against Santana is tied for best
among hitters who have faced him 10 or more times. Yet, said Gibbons, "I
don't particularly like facing him."
The advance scout said Santana throws about 8-10 sliders per game -- but
he advises his hitters not to look for it.
"You have to eliminate the slider all together," the scout said. "Even
though he has one, you chuck it out the window and say, 'If he gets me
out with that, I don't care.' If you look for three pitches, he's going
to kill you."
Santana this year is 9-6 with a 2.76 ERA, third-best in the AL. His
streak of 108 consecutive starts lasting at least five innings is the
longest current such streak and fourth-longest of the past 50 years.
The Yankees, meanwhile, are 9-13 this season when facing a left-handed
starter. They beat Santana once in the 2003 AL Division Series, but
never in the regular season.
"I don't know what he does, but he just gets you thinking up there,"
said Toronto first baseman Lyle Overbay, who is 1-for-11 with eight
strikeouts against Santana. "And usually once you start to think up
there, then he's got you."
Ed Price may be reached at eprice@starledger.com
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