Phillies Nation

Domingo Santana, RF

Born: 8/5/1992 in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic

Height: 6’5”

Weight: 200

In late March, just before the Phillies got their title defense underway, many local stories tacked on a note at the end about a low-profile international signing. The Phillies scouting department spent $300,000 to reel in a lengthy Dominican outfielder – one that the Yankees had also pursued heavily. Though he is very young, just having turned 17 this week, Santana is progressing well in the Gulf Coast League a month into the rookie season. At such a young age any impressive showing from the right-handed corner outfielder will get him notice as he works his way through the system.

Well, 26 games into his career on the farm with the Phillies, Santana is certainly impressing. In just 82 at-bats he has knocked 5 homers and 21 RBI, both good for top-10 ranks in the rookie league. He splits time between left and right field, with an occasional appearance at designated hitter thrown in for good measure. Interestingly enough, despite his strong overall numbers he is 0-for-9 with 6 strikeouts when playing at DH.

There is not much information on Santana in the way of scouting reports – and no photo to be found – but he has a very large frame with room to grow and fill out.  Santana has a strong throwing arm and is a decent runner. There is reason to expect an athlete of his size and stature to improve his speed in the outfield and on the basepaths as he gets older. Santana reportedly struggles to adjust to breaking balls, as do many taller players, and will need to improve to become a complete player.

Any player as young as Santana is difficult to project, so all we can do is look at what he’s done so far in limited action and hope it bodes well for the future. In three years Santana could very well have flamed out, never adjusting to higher levels of professional baseball. Or in three years he could be a physical specimen like Michael Taylor or Domonic Brown that the organization sees as the future in a corner outfield spot. Either way, his progress is well worth tracking.

Statistics

Year   Level   Games   AB   H   HR   RBI   BB   K   AVG   OBP   SLG

2009   ROOK     26     82   22   5    21   11   34  .268   .375  .524

Rankings

23. Domingo Santana, RF

24. Jonathan Singleton, 1B

25. Drew Naylor, RHP