Pirates counting on Carlos Santana to provide stability at 1B, leadership for Latin teammates

When the Pittsburgh Pirates signed Carlos Santana to a free-agent contract, they discussed how his impact could be two-fold: by addressing offseason needs at first base and in the clubhouse.

The Pirates considered Santana’s positive personality and veteran leadership as important as his good glove and big bat, especially with a pair of young Dominican players expected to take on prominent roles. The one-year, $6.725-million contract was as much an investment in shortstop Oneil Cruz and second baseman Rodolfo Castro as it was in Santana.

“The most important thing — and I’ve told this to all the guys we’ve signed — is don’t expect anybody to come in here and be the ultimate leader or be a leader,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said. “The expectation is for them to come in and be themselves. If you talk to guys who played with Santana, he walked into a clubhouse and people gravitate toward him. It was important in terms of being able to add guys who just by their presence in the clubhouse and on the field, people are going to gravitate toward.”

Santana flashed that personality upon his introduction, when he opened a video conference call with reporters in December by dancing on camera. If that was a natural expression, so was what happened at the start of spring training at Pirate City.

The Pirates placed Santana’s locker between those of fellow first baseman/designated hitter Ji-Man Choi and outfielder Andrew McCutchen in the clubhouse, directly across from Castro and Cruz. It wasn’t long before Santana was commanding a captive audience, conversing in Spanish with Castro and Dominican pitchers Roansy Contreras and Yohan Ramirez as old friend Miguel Andujar sat within earshot.

“Having Carlos next to us is a blessing just because we’re Latinos just like him,” Castro said through team translator Stephen Morales, a Pirates coach. “The communication channel is always open when it comes to small things you see that we can improve. He lets us know right away. I think that’s going to play a huge part in our development and how to be a big leaguer.”

That was an area of concern for Castro in particular. The 23-year-old was demoted to Triple-A Indianapolis last season after failing to run out a popfly that dropped for a double play. Upon his return, he drew a one-game MLB suspension after his cell phone popped out of his back pocket while sliding into third base at Arizona.

“Going back to the game getting a little faster sometimes for us, the young guys, I think Carlos is going to play a big part on that when it comes to letting us know when to be calm or how to act on situations like that,” Castro added. “I think that’s gonna be huge for us.”

Santana, who turns 37 on April 8, needs 22 home runs for 300 and 75 RBIs to reach 1,000 in his career. Over 13 major-league seasons, he has a .242/.359/.432 slash line, and Santana has shown his patience at the plate this spring by drawing five walks in Grapefruit League play.

After batting .202 with 18 doubles, 19 homers and 60 RBIs last season, split between the Kansas City Royals and Seattle Mariners, Santana hopes the ban on defensive shifts in baseball’s new rules will help improve his batting average. Opponents employed the shift against the switch-hitting Santana on 98.3% of his left-handed plate appearances, the highest in the majors.

“Oh yes. The last three years, the shift is the most effective play against me,” Santana said. “But I’m very happy that they took it off this year. We’ll see what happens. I think it’s going to be good for me.”

And the Pirates are counting on Santana’s glove at first to be good for their young double-play pairing, regardless of who wins the competition between Castro, Ji Hwan Bae and Tucupita Marcano for the starting job at second base. Cruz committed 17 errors in 79 games at shortstop last season, when there was a revolving door of converted middle infielders playing first base.

“It’s going to be a big help for the young guys, having guys with some experience, because you look up to those guys when you’re in the minors,” Cruz said through Morales. “That’s going to be a big help for us to grow and become big-league players.”

Cruz, however, downplayed the importance of veterans Santana and Choi at first base for reducing the number of his throwing errors (10). That falls squarely on the 6-foot-7 shortstop.

“It can go either way. They can help me a lot, or they can not help me at all,” Cruz said. “It’s on my part to make good throws to first base, and that’s what I’m working on right now. The way I throw the ball to first base is huge, and I’m working on that.”

Again, that’s where Santana’s experience can play a role. In the first days of spring training, he spent time talking with Cruz after infield drills. Having a veteran who has started 1,079 games at first base can provide a calming presence to a young but talented infield that has one of the game’s best defenders in third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes.

“If they come to me, I can do it,” Santana said. “That’s why I’m working hard at first base, getting to know Castro and Cruz and Hayes. … We have a lot of players with talent, hungry to play hard every day. We’ll have to see, but I think we’re doing good. We’re trying to have fun every day and see what happens.”