Carlos Santana: Best Catching Prospect After Matt Wieters?

Before the season, it would have been a no-brainer for me if I was asked to name the best catching prospect after Matt Wieters. My answer would be Carlos Santana. Some might tell you Buster Posey…and it’s close when you consider Posey’s defensive skill set. Still, whether he’s the second or third best, he’s a damn good prospect and probably a top-15 prospect if you wanted to know where I would rank him overall.

Everything I look for in a prospect Santana possesses:

Power? Check. Patience? Check. Contact? Check (kinda). Plate discipline? Check. Can he rake? Check. Hits the ball in the air? Check. The bonuses: a switch hitter that plays a premium defensive position at catcher. The drawbacks: he doesn’t play catcher that well.

Santana proved his legitimacy by raking in two different teams for two different organizations. His patience is tremendous as he waits on his pitch to hit. He doesn’t get caught into being too patient and waiting for the perfect pitch. He seems to have the right balance of being patient and aggressive.

One would expect Santana’s contact rate to be a little lower given how busy his swing is. This gives you an indication of how good Santana’s hand-eye coordination is.

*Credit to Pacific Prospect Report

From both sides of the plate, Santana uses a toe tap as a timing mechanism and then uses a big leg kick as he strides forward. He loads his hands well while keeping his swing mostly short. His plant is aggressive as is the rotation of his hips. He turns the hands and hips together as he swings with intent. His bat speed is on display as he lets the ball travel deep into his hitting zone.

The question for Santana comes in the form of his defense. He’s athletic and agile behind the dish, but unrefined. HIs arm is strong but will lack accuracy, though his CS% improved significantly after he was traded from LA to Cleveland. His receiving skills are improving, but there is still work to do, especially on blocking balls in the dirt.

Other weaknesses? One could complain that he doesn’t have “light tower” power — he’s more of a 20 – 25 homerun sorta player. And while his contact rate is solid for a player of his type, he did strikeout a little more than 19% of the time with Kinston, which is something he’ll need to work on going forward.

The bottom line, Santana has the look of an All Star level catcher with potentially average defense. He’s not at the top of the class — Matt Wieters occupies that spot — but he’s definitely next in line.

If you enjoyed this article, please consider subscribing to my RSS feed for updates on when new content is posted. You can also get updates in your inbox and receive extra prospect reports, article extensions, the reader mailbag, and more by using the form below to sign up for the free Baseball-Intellect Newsletter. Your e-mail will never be shared or sold.

For readers already using an RSS feed for site updates, you can skip the updates and sign up for just the Newsletter content by clicking here.

What to Do Next

Sign Up for Updates

Related Articles