Salty or Santana

[TDs3nOut]

I drafted Santana as my catcher in a league that scores BA but does not score OBP. After Carlos got off to a horrible start I dropped him and picked up Mesaraco, who shortly afterwards got hurt, so I picked up Saltalamacia, who has been hitting pretty well lately. I'm thinking about dropping Salty in favor of Santana, so I'm interested in which player you think might be better going forward.

One of the main reasons that I think I might like Santana better is because he figures to get fewer days off than Salty. Then again, nothing wrong with a day off if the alternative is an 0-5.

 

[Philabuster5]

This is a no-brainer....Santana needs to be picked up.
Who was that catcher last year who hit all of those early home runs? Was a Met I think.
Point is, it's easy to forget these little hot streaks like Salty's.
Quality usually prevails in the end.

 

[TDs3nOut]

This is a no-brainer....Santana needs to be picked up.
Who was that catcher last year who hit all of those early home runs? Was a Met I think.
Point is, it's easy to forget these little hot streaks like Salty's.
Quality usually prevails in the end.

John Buck? I think you are probably right, but that putrid BA of Santana's is hard to stomach when it's not at least partially offset by getting credit for all of his walks.

 

[Yellow Fuzzies]

I sat Santana during his horrid start, but he is back in the lineup. His start is out of character for his career. ride Santana and drop Salty.

 

[tlance]

I drafted Santana as my catcher in a league that scores BA but does not score OBP. After Carlos got off to a horrible start I dropped him and picked up Mesaraco, who shortly afterwards got hurt, so I picked up Saltalamacia, who has been hitting pretty well lately. I'm thinking about dropping Salty in favor of Santana, so I'm interested in which player you think might be better going forward.

One of the main reasons that I think I might like Santana better is because he figures to get fewer days off than Salty. Then again, nothing wrong with a day off if the alternative is an 0-5.

You are lucky nobody picked up Santana. That was a bad mistake. Santana will have a higher BA than Salty at the end of the season, and more of everything else that we like in fantasy baseball too (HRs will be close). Bank on it.

 

[TREFF]

Well..First is agree that Santana is the right call here. .But I do feel many are over valuing Santana, under estimating Salty. This will end up closer than you might think. It's not an obvious call by any means in my humble opinion. But yes, Santana is the smarter choice.

 

[TDs3nOut]

Well..First is agree that Santana is the right call here. .But I do feel many are over valuing Santana, under estimating Salty. This will end up closer than you might think. It's not an obvious call by any means in my humble opinion. But yes, Santana is the smarter choice.

This is my thinking, too. If one compares BA, HR, and RBI for the two players last year and so far this year, by far the most significant difference is that Salty is hitting about .150 points higher than Santana this year. I went ahead and dropped Salty and picked Santana back up, but I don't feel too certain that that will pay off.

 

[tlance]

Santana: career .249 BA, with a BABIP of .275. This year his BABIP is .174.
Salty: Career BA of .248 with a BABIP of .325. This year, BABIP is .385

Salty Ks 30% of the time, while Santana walks more than he strikes out. Salty's cold streak is coming and it will be painful.

 

[tlance]

This is my thinking, too. If one compares BA, HR, and RBI for the two players last year and so far this year, by far the most significant difference is that Salty is hitting about .150 points higher than Santana this year. I went ahead and dropped Salty and picked Santana back up, but I don't feel too certain that that will pay off.

1 month is still a tiny sample size. Based on stats from this year, you would be foolish not to trade Miggy Cabrera for Charlie Blackmon. I think we would all agree that decision would be unlikely to pay off.

 

[navamind]

Santana: career .249 BA, with a BABIP of .275. This year his BABIP is .174.
Salty: Career BA of .248 with a BABIP of .325. This year, BABIP is .385

Salty Ks 30% of the time, while Santana walks more than he strikes out. Salty's cold streak is coming and it will be painful.

This. Love Salty and it would be nice to see him keep it up, but I just can't see it happening.

 

[TKOSpikes]

I wouldn't drop Santana unless I was in a 4 team league. Not sure how he wasn't picked up. Carlos is a better everything (in baseball) than Salty. Cold streaks suck, and benching him would have been a justified option, but never drop a top 5 talent at any position for a flavor of the week... (but I suppose if nobody is picking him up, then go for it)

 

[navamind]

I wouldn't drop Santana unless I was in a 4 team league. Not sure how he wasn't picked up. Carlos is a better everything (in baseball) than Salty. Cold streaks suck, and benching him would have been a justified option, but never drop a top 5 talent at any position for a flavor of the week... (but I suppose if nobody is picking him up, then go for it)

yup... Santana was a damn good hitter before this year. Career .365 OBP, .440 SLG%, and 127 OPS+ despite a .249 BA. 14.1 WAR in his first four seasons. Last year was Saltalamacchia's best year, and it would have been the worst of Santana's career.

Salty is drawing a lot of walks so far this year though, so there's that. He drew 43 in 470 PA last year. He has 16 in 103 PA this year.