An Interview with Astros OF Domingo Santana

Domingo Santana is very vocal on the field, laughing and kidding with his teammates, but he was a man of few words in my interview with him. The first thing one notices about Santana, particularly when one is 5'8" like I am, is how big he is. He is listed as 6'5" 230#, but he seemed even taller than that to me as I felt dwarfed by him.

One of the first things I asked him about was what I saw as a transformation in him between last season and this. He is still only 20 years old and is still growing into his body, but the work he put in during the off-season left Santana leaner and stronger.

Domingo Santana - August 2012

Domingo Santana - May 2013

Photo by Jayne Hansen

Here's what Santana had to say about that and a few other things when I talked to him over the Memorial Day weekend ~

On the physical transformation: "I've just been working out even more and just trying to make my body a little thinner and make me run faster."

What has he accomplished and what is he working on this season?: "I've been trying to get my strikeouts a little bit lower, but I haven't accomplished anything yet. I've still been striking out too much, but I've just been working hard everyday in the cage."

On his improvement defensively: "This year ... I'm way better this year [defensively]. I worked hard over the off-season on that and everything's just been really good now."

Which Astros pitcher would he least like to face?: "[Mike] Foltynewicz."

What would he do if he couldn't play baseball?: "I don't know. I really do not know. I've never even thought about it."

I asked the Dominican-born Santana how he learned such excellent English: "I grew up in St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands. I just talk like Jamaicans. My accent has gotten a lot better."

Who on the team makes him laugh?: Kiké [Hernandez]. Kiké's my joker.

Which of the Corpus pitchers does he like playing behind?: "I like to play behind all the pitchers because all of them are really good. [Who makes your life easier when they're pitching?] David Martinez. He makes everything quicker. He works quickly."

On the trade from the Phillies: "At first, I was just like 'Wow.' I was kind of mad because I didn't want to leave the Phillies system, but when I got here, I saw it as an opportunity. My father and my mother told me that it was a new beginning."

On the increased outfield competition in the Astros system: "It makes me work harder and at the end of the day, everybody is given a chance and everybody has just got to prove themselves. You've got to prove that you're better than the other guys. You've just got to work harder."

I asked Corpus Christi Manager Keith Bodie about Santana and he had this to say, "The sky's the limit. You look at a guy who can run, throw, hit, hit for power. He's an excellent player, has a chance to be an impact type of player at the major league level. Reminds me of Davd Winfield a little bit. We're just watching him play and watching him grow and he's going to mature."

He's already done a lot of maturing over the last year physically, his defensive skills have improved drastically  and there has been very little drop off in his slugging percentage from his 2012 season at hitter-friendly Lancaster (.536) to this point in his 2013 season in Corpus (.511). And did I mention that he won't be 21 until August? Yes, Mr. Bodie, I would say that the sky is the limit for Santana and the future is looking very bright.

Domingo Santana - May 2013

Photo by Jayne Hansen