Minnesota Twins: Veteran Pitcher Ervin Santana Set for a Breakout Year
By Jordan Ison
Despite the recent struggles of the Minnesota Twins, pitcher Ervin Santana continues to be the talk around the MLB world.
Who would have guessed this? Ervin Santana. Yes, that Santana. The 34-year old that has bounced around the MLB like he was on a trampoline has now bounced into every MLB conversation around the world. But why?
It’s a complex question but a simple one at the same time. Santana has been a phenom in his first three starts. He has thrown 22 out of the possible 27 innings. He has an ERA of 0.41. Oh, and he’s only given up 5 hits. Incredible.
Ervin Santana is 3rd in ERA in the MLB thus far, behind only Andrew Triggs and James Paxton, both of which have a 0.00 ERA. He is tied at the top of the MLB in wins with 3 other players as he has 3 wins in 3 starts.
The stats speak wonders for the 34-year old starting pitcher, but that’s not all that’s amazing about Santana. You can see it when he steps on the mound – he loves baseball. He loves what he’s doing and he’s doing a dang good job at it right now.
One more great thing about Ervin Santana – he loves his teammates.
In the video above, taken after his one-hit shut-out against the White Sox on 4/15/2017, he mentions his teammates three times. He highlights how he wanted to help save his bullpen and his teammats by throwing in the 9th inning of that game.
Not to mention getting drenched with the Gatorade cooler – that was pretty cool.
In a surprise to the entire MLB, Santana has been possibly the best pitcher in the league thus far. It seems very unlikely that Ervin Santana keeps his ERA under 1.00 for the entire year. It also seems unlikely that his ERA rises up to his career ERA of 4.06.
To this date, Santana’s best season was 2013 with the Kansas City Royals. His ERA was 3.24 and he had 161 strikeouts. This year, Santana is on pace for 165 strikeouts and an ERA of around 2.00.
His kind of leadership and love for the game is exactly what the Minnesota Twins need on their roster. He has been able to provide them with some fantastic outings from the mound in his first 3 starts. Every Twins’ fan hopes he can keep it up as he strides for a Cy Young type of year.