Chris
Santiago

vs Foothill - St. Mary's commit; 6-foot-1, 200-pound build. Started at third base then came in to close the game in the seventh inning. On the mound, his fastball sat around 85-86 mph topping at 88 mph. Also featured a curveball 68-71 mph. Over the top arm slot giving him good tilt on his fastball. Threw mostly fastballs and had good command with it on both sides of the plate. He is able to spot the fastball on the inside corner with confidence, effective in off speed counts which is an important pitch at the next level. Offensively, Santiago has quick bat speed which allows him to keep his hands back longer, his bat whips through the zone giving him power to all fields.

vs Monte Vista HS; St. Mary’s signee, did not have one of his better days at the plate, but came in to throw a big inning and close out the game.  First thing that stands out to me about Santiago is his physicality, with a big strong lower half and broad shoulders. On defense he showed a big time arm and good feet and good hands during pre-game.  Made all the routine plays in game. At the plate he has a simple set up with high hands, but showed that he has a hole on the inner half as the Monte Vista pitcher ate him up there all game. He has bat speed and strength through his swing and there is a lot to like about Santiago, this was just a tough day for him.  On the mound he sat 87-90 and threw all fastballs. The fastball is straight and the delivery is max effort, and there is plenty of life to the fastball. If he can figure out a serviceable secondary pitch it would probably help him a lot on the mound.

vs Jesuit - St. Mary's signee; Consistently impacts the game from the 3-hole in his team's line-up. Santiago has the prototypical 3rd baseman tool set, with a big arm (though he's got to improve the accuracy and could shorten up the arm stroke), soft hands (though needs to improve his reads and make more decisive decisions), and offensively has power to fields and the bat speed/timing to handle good stuff. In this one he showed not only the bat speed and power potential, with those strong hands getting direct to the ball, but he also showed the ability to drive in runs and the knack for executing in those situations. He went 2-for-3 (F9 on CB, HBP, BB, 3B, 1B) and hit multiple pitches. The triple was on a fastball, the single was with a runner at 3rd and he simply moved the ball through the 6-hole. He and Burke form one of the best 2/3 combos in the state and it's their ability to hit quality pitching that makes them dangerous for other top teams. For good measure, he also threw the last inning and could find himself in a closing role at times. Fastball was 85-87 mph with some life through the zone.

at St. Francis - The  stoutly built 6-foot-2, 200-pounds St. Mary's signee mans the 3-hole for the Spartans, right ahead of Blake Burke. He's a powerful right-handed hitter with a very sound approach that allows him to barrel the ball to any and all fields. His hands are quick and direct to the ball, he's aggressive and knows what he wants to hit. The double he hit was raked to left and in the 7th inning, in a fairly long at -bat, he JUST missed hitting a homer right before Burke did in top of 7th. He's not a runner and in this one looked like he was laboring a bit with his lower body. Defensively he can occasionally play a little loose with the glove and put himself in better position to make plays within his range. He does have a plus arm but could use some more discretion for when to make certain throws and when to unleash that big arm. A misread on a chopper saw him lay back and caused a hurried throw that got away from him. He moved best to his left. All in all, this is a prototypical 3rd baseman in body type and big tools.

at Valley Christian - St. Mary’s commit and #93 ranked player in the 2019 class, looked good in the infield during pre-game. He showed lateral quickness with a soft glove being able to move his hips opening up for throws to 2nd base and on the top ball. He’s got a strong arm which was evident from his deep throws and when he hoped on the mound. At the plate, he keeps strong posture with a slight bend of the knees loading into the back hip with a foot lift while keeping a high back elbow. He showed strong bat speed with an uphill path making hard contact during the game. He smoked a ball right at the CF and later in the game just got under a ball for a deep flyout to CF again. On the hill he showed arm strength with a quick compact arm path keeping a high front knee. I didn’t get velocity readings on him during the outing because the rain came into play, but look for him to being a strong two-way player for the Spartans this season.

vs Bellarmine Prep; Stout and strong 6-foot-2 200-pound corner infielder, strong athlete with hit tool that shows up, patient approach letting the ball travel, compact stroke keeps him inside the ball but strong and powerful and able to drive the ball the other way, arm plays across the diamond and he likes his arm, is willing to let it go to make plays, footwork and pre-pitch preparation can improve, has a grinder type presence but definitely possesses bat and arm talent.