Any chance of Ervin Santana returning to his 2006 form or is 2007 more likely?
Santana led the team in wins in 2006, posting 16 of them to go with his 4.28 ERA as opposed to the 7-14, 5.76 numbers he had last year. While the Angels maintain it was all mechanical, it seems that a lot of his success will be determined by his mental makeup. Santana has struggled on the road in his career — 10-21 record, 7.14 ERA — so that’s the first hurdle he needs to get over in order to become an elite pitcher. He does have electric stuff when he’s on, as many Angels fans have seen, it’s just that he never seems to be fully on. Santana is only 25 years old, so he is still learning how to pitch at the major-league level, but he has the capability to lead the staff in wins again. It’s just a matter of harnessing his exceptional home marks (25-9, 3.14 ERA) and pitching that way every game.
