Tom Krasovic: Jackson Merrill's ROY candidacy shines deserving light on ex-Padre Benito Santiago

Tom Krasovic, The San Diego Union-Tribune on Nov 23, 2024

Published in Baseball

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SAN DIEGO — The Padres will be thrilled if Jackson Merrill proves as durable as the lithe and baseball-passionate Benito Santiago, who, like Merrill, had a big rookie season with San Diego.

One of the sport’s more athletic catchers, Santiago revolutionized the position by snapping off rapid throws from both knees. He caught more games than Hall of Famers Johnny Bench, Yogi Berra and Ted Simmons.

Santiago wasn’t a great player. He garnered just one vote as a Hall of Fame nominee.

He did very well, though, to finish 12th all time in games played at the sport’s most grueling position 20 years after the Padres first called him up in 1986.

When he retired at age 40, the native of Ponce, Puerto Rico, could’ve filled a trophy case with his four Silver Slugger bats, three Gold Gloves and National League Championship Series MVP award to go with keepsakes from five All-Star games and tenures with nine MLB franchises.

One other award he won — the 1987 National League Rookie of the Year award — has brought him additional acclaim this year.

By virtue of Merrill’s fabulous rookie season, Padres fans have been either reconnected or introduced to Santiago’s season.

It featured a 34-game hitting streak, laser-throws to all three bases and a right-handed bat that — kept extra busy by Santiago’s aversion to walks — drove 33 doubles, 18 home runs and enough hits for a .300 batting average. The 22-year-old also stole 21 bases.

Santiago’s selection as National League Rookie of the Year was unanimous. He got each of the 24 first-place votes from baseball writers. Mike Dunne (13-6, 3.03 ERA) and Joe Magrane (9-7, 3.54) of the Pirates and Cardinals landed second and third, respectively.

This year, the 21-year-old Merrill mustered an impressive bid to become the first Padre since Santiago to win Rookie of the Year.

The center fielder’s total of 5.3 win shares, as measured by FanGraphs.com analytics, beat Santiago’s ’87-season total by 2.2. Of the past 10 winners of the NL rookie award, only Diamondbacks outfielder Corbin Carroll in 2023 and Cubs third baseman Kris Bryant in 2015 exceeded Merrill in win shares, per FanGraphs.

The voters chose Pirates ace Paul Skenes, who was spectacular in his own right, over Merrill.

Merrill showed so many impressive traits — rare bat-to-ball skills, athleticism, toughness, adaptiveness and maturity — over 156 games that my only question about his future has to do with health. Will he avoid severe injuries? There’s no strong reason to believe he won’t, but in this MLB era, injury setbacks are more frequent.

Santiago had rare flexibility to go with wiry strength. At 6-foot-1 and 180 pounds, he could bend himself like Spiderman or, for a better comparison, like Ichiro Suzuki, the ultra-flexible Mariners outfielder.

In eight seasons, Santiago finished among the league’s top 10 in games played at catcher.

Explosive behind the plate, he held your attention, whipping fast throws and firing out to field bunts. Though he amassed many more throwing errors and passed balls than his top contemporaries did, he led his position in assists three times and in double plays started twice.

Santiago was part of a Padres era of amateur scouting and big league competitiveness that also deserves recognition today.

From 1973 through 1984, Padres scouts drafted or signed several amateurs who became MLB stars. The group included future Hall of Famers Dave Winfield, Ozzie Smith, Tony Gwynn and Roberto Alomar; and other standouts such as Santiago, Ozzie Guillen, Sandy Alomar Jr., Carlos Baerga and John Kruk, who batted .300 across 10 seasons.