{"id":58776,"date":"2023-06-13T09:00:35","date_gmt":"2023-06-13T13:00:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=58776"},"modified":"2023-06-11T22:17:10","modified_gmt":"2023-06-12T02:17:10","slug":"pirates-need-to-bump-carlos-santana-down-lineup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2023\/06\/13\/pirates-need-to-bump-carlos-santana-down-lineup\/","title":{"rendered":"Pirates Need To Bump Carlos Santana Down Lineup"},"content":{"rendered":"

One of the Pittsburgh Pirates<\/a>‘ veteran offseason editions was first baseman\/designated hitter Carlos Santana<\/a>. In theory, the signing filled a need at the corner spot where the Pirates don’t have a young future prospect. Defensively, Santana is better than advertised. I don’t remember him being as good of a fielder at first as he’s been. At the plate, he is supposed to provide stability and pop. However, Santana has been a hole in the Pirates’ lineup as the cleanup hitter.<\/p>\n

As the Pirates stand, they aren’t a team filled with power. They received a nice boost in power numbers towards the end of last season. That hasn’t carried over. Their leading home-run hitter is Jack Suwinski<\/a> who’s got 13 so far of the season. With his .200 batting average against lefties, Suwinski often gets sat when the team faces left-handers. If he had even splits, the decision to make Suwinski the clean up guy would seem like a no-brainer.<\/p>\n

Andrew McCutchen<\/a> has eight home runs for the Pirates but he is too much of an on-base guy to bat in the power spot. Outside of Rodolfo Castro<\/a> and Bryan Reynolds<\/a>, the Pirates lack a true power hitter.<\/p>\n

As it currently stands, Santana presents the best possible everyday option in the four hole. His four home runs and .679 OBP don’t really support that. But the 37-year old was expected to have a bit more slug than he has provided to this point. He is tied for third on the time in RBI with 28 to this point so he’s at least driving guys in. Santana’s 730 OPS with runners in scoring position isn’t terrible but it could be better.<\/p>\n

To say the least, he’s been an underwhelming option to this point.<\/p>\n

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In his last twenty four ABs, Carlos Santana is slashing .167\/.259\/.292 with a homer and two RBI.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s not getting it done. Needs moved down in the order for now.<\/p>\n

— Nate (@nate_in_pa) June 11, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n