Santana seeks to flip power switch
CHICAGO - Almost a month into the season, Domingo Santana is still searching for his power stroke.
The Milwaukee Brewers rightfielder entered Friday’s game against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field with 20 hits — 19 of which were singles — and a paltry .256 slugging percentage before doubling in the sixth inning of an eventual 3-2 loss.
Santana’s first double came in the Brewers’ second game of the season, on March 30 in San
Diego.
That meant he’d gone 22 consecutive games with nothing more than a single — a far cry from what he accomplished a year ago, when he set career highs with 29 doubles and 30 home runs to go with a team-leading .278 average and .371 on-base percentage.
“He hasn’t driven the ball yet, no question,” manager Craig Counsell said of Santana, who’s hitting just .247 with four runs batted in and 28 strikeouts in 85 at-bats.
“He hasn’t gotten the ball in the air a lot. It’s hopefully coming . ... We’ve seen a lot of ground balls from him.
“Getting through the month of April without too many extra-base hits is not something you’re expecting from him. Extra-base hits are part of his game, and they’ll come.”
With all the outfield depth the team had coming into the year after the additions of Lorenzo Cain and Christian Yelich and the continued presence of Ryan Braun, it appeared Santana would have a difficult time matching the 525 at-bats he had in 2017.
But his 85 at-bats rank third on the team, and his 22 starts in right field were second only to Cain’s 24 in center among Brewers outfielders. Santana is the only player among the group of Cain, Yelich, Braun and first baseman Eric Thames who has managed to avoid injury.
Santana has been a slow starter in the past, hitting .233 for his career over March and April.
But before this season he also had managed to collect 11 doubles and seven homers, making his lack of power early in 2018 even more confounding.
Counsell said he hasn’t noticed anything different in Santana’s swing.
“He’s missed a couple good pitches to hit and he’s put a couple of the wrong balls in play, and that’s the way you end up in this spot,” Counsell said. “But we also know he can have a week where he hits five home runs, very easily.”
Santana, one of the more soft-spoken players on the Brewers, doesn’t appear to have let his slow start affect his confidence.
He spent part of his morning Friday in the batting tunnel behind the visitors’ dugout at Wrigley Field working on his swing with hitting coach Darnell Coles.
One last time: Left-hander Wade Miley was scheduled to make the final of his three minor-league rehab starts Friday for Class AA Biloxi.
Miley appeared to be a lock for the Brewers’ rotation until he suffered a groin strain in his final Cactus League start late last month.
But he wasn’t overly impressive in his first two starts for the Shuckers, going 0-1 with a 6.35 earned run average and allowing three homers in his last outing.
The Brewers will have to inform Miley by Sunday whether they intend to add him to the active roster. If they don’t, he’ll become a free agent. If he is brought on board, it’s unclear whether he’d slide into the rotation or open in the bullpen.
“I think three starts is a good mark, for sure,” Counsell said. “I think he’ll be at a point where he’s ready to go. But we’ll see what that means. I don’t think there’s anything written in stone about (his role) at all.
“He’s got to pitch well today, and we’ll see what happens.”
Also, the Brewers announced later Friday that Thames underwent surgery on his left thumb in Phoenix and is expected to miss 6-8 weeks.