A look at Carlos Santana’s impressive exit velocity

early in the season"One of the best things about Statcast is that it gives us something worthwhile to talk about in the first week of the season. Wins and losses are just as important now as they are in September Travis d'Arnaud Jersey , but most individual player stats are worthless. You can’t tell much from the single statistic of hit or even a home run besides the fact that they probably hit the ball pretty well. The discussion starts and stops with “this thing happened” in each of those instances. Exit velocity is a whole different monster. Exit velocity is something that you can use on a case-by-case basis on its own to see what a player is doing — we can say without a shadow of a doubt that Carlos Santana has hit the ball really dang hard in his first few games. He might not for the whole season, but that’s okay. It’s more than just “he hit it,” instead it now becomes “did you see this fuckin guy hit a baseball 112.8 miles per hour, then follow that up with 108.3 miles per hour? Cripes!” I guess what I’m trying to say is: Our boy is back. Carlos Santana has made no secret about the fact he loves Cleveland, and is thrilled to be back with the Indians. Call it playing up the fans if you want, but at this year’s fan fest he told eager Tribe fans, “Last year I missed you guys. Right now, I’m so excited to be back to my natural home.” He had some equally rosy comments leading up to his free agency in 2017. Even after today’s game, where the Indians lost in devastating fashion to the lowly Chicago White Sox, Santana’s bat came through as one of the few bright spots. He told reporters after the game he’s enjoying the game of baseball, when he wasn’t before. He attributes his hot start to feeling comfortable in both body and mind. How do you not love him? Through the Indians’ first five games, Carlos Santana’s bat has been the lone light in the darkness for the Francisco Lindorless Tribe (Hanley Ramirez and his pair of home runs is a distant second). Sample sizes are still extremely small right now, which means it’s easy to do something like take a blanket look at how Carlos has hit every ball that he’s made contact with. So let’s do that. March 2899.8 mph flyout vs. Jose Berrios95.2 mph flyout vs. Jose BerriosMarch 30111.8 mph single vs. Blake Parker88.2 mph flyout vs. Trevor May76.5 mph pop out vs. Jake Odorizzi83.9 mph groundout vs. Jake OdorizziMarch 31112.8 mph double vs. Martin Perez108.3 mph single vs. Martin Perez99.9 mph single vs. Martin Perez102.6 mph single vs. Michael PinedaApril 1106.4 mph single vs. Ivan Nova79.0 mph GIDP vs. Ivan NovaApril 3110.1 mph single vs. Nate Jones99.4 mph groundout vs. Carlos Rodon81.3 mph flyout vs. Carlos Rodon84.7 mph single vs. Carlos RodonGo ahead and file that under “not bad.”In the March 31 game — a loss to the Twins — Santana held the mark for the four hardest-hit balls among Indians batters. That speaks to be how bad the Indians lineup is, sure, but it also shows the kind of great contact that Slamtana is making now that he’s back where he feels the most comfortable. Entering play today Noah Syndergaard Jersey , Santana ranked sixth in average exit velocity at 97 miles per hour, and fifth in hard hit percentage at 66.7 percent.Similar to the dearly departed Yandy Diaz, though, Santana’s launch angle could use a boost as it sits at 10.2 heading into today (and his .500 batting average on balls in play probably isn’t going to stand forever).still, for this one fun little metric, in the silliest time of the year, Carlos Santana is doing something really, really well. Let’s enjoy that for a minute. The Orioles won two out of three from the Yankees! I still can’t believe it. Enjoy the fun while there’s fun to enjoy."Hello, friends.Have you heard the news? The Orioles still have a winning record after three games this season! After an almost unbelievable weekend of baseball, the O’s, who won 47 games last season, came away with two wins on the road against the Yankees, who won 100 games last season. Baseball can still be fun sometimes. It’s nice when it is.If you missed yesterday’s rain-delayed, 7-5 win in the Bronx, check out Stacey Folkemer’s recap of the action http://www.metsfanproshop.com/authentic-tim-tebow-jersey , including John Means’s first MLB win, and don’t forget to register your vote in the Most Birdland Player poll.Last year, the Orioles were never above .500 again after winning on Opening Day. With two wins this weekend, they’ve made it at least two games farther into the 2019 regular season calendar, since they’re now 2-1. It’s not quite good enough for first place, because the Rays have already played four games and they’re 3-1, so the O’s are half a game behind for the American League East lead. They are in second place with a three-game trip to Toronto awaiting them next.A funny thing happened to me watching the Orioles this weekend. Once they had staked themselves to leads on Saturday and Sunday, I actually like... cared whether they won or lost. After last year’s pathetic performance and the expected dismal season this year I figured that I would just be numb to whatever happened. I was certainly numb last year by the time May rolled around and it was clear there was nothing to look forward to or even break up the drudgery until the July trades rolled around.That feeling may yet set in for 2019, because even in winning two games the O’s still demonstrated that what you thought their flaws would be are, in fact, going to be big flaws. Two starting pitchers have now pitched and zero of them pitched well. There are no sure things in the bullpen. Chris Davis hasn’t dispelled any of the narrative surrounding his performance last year, so much so that during yesterday’s game on MASN, Jim Palmer was in disbelief that the Yankees did not walk Joey Rickard intentionally in order to have a lefty-lefty matchup against Davis. Nor was he wrong. Rickard homered! Still, “Joey Rickard should have been intentionally walked” is a wild phrase to say or write.The reality is still there about the Orioles. They are going to lose a lot of games. But we can all enjoy the fun parts of this season while they’re fun. If the Orioles go on to lose 120 games, nobody can take this one happy weekend away from us. It was a weekend where manager Brandon Hyde got his first win http://www.metsfanproshop.com/authentic-tim-tebow-jersey , was dumped in a laundry cart and showered with beer. Rookie pitcher John Means got his first win the next day, was dumped in a laundry cart, and presumably also showered with beer. Keep Mark Trumbo away from these guys so they can keep having fun. All of this happened in Yankee Stadium, where the Yankees fans and media were derisively calling the Orioles a Triple-A team, where the fans started booing on Saturday and Sunday, and all of it is glorious for as long as it lasts. Maybe it will even continue through tonight, when the O’s take on the Blue Jays at 7:07. David Hess and Sean Reid-Foley are the expected starting pitchers.Mike Mussina was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame 69 days ago. The Orioles have not yet announced any plans to retire his jersey or erect his statue at Camden Yards.Around the blogO’sphereBrandon Hyde will mix and match lineups and closers for Orioles (Baltimore Baseball)Davis batted seventh two times, was pinch hit for in the ninth inning once, and didn’t even play in one of the first three games. However this year ends up, it’ll certainly take a different path to getting there.Orioles douse new manager after first win (Cut4)Just look at these guys! I was serious about keeping Trumbo away from them. And here’s some video of some post-game soaking from Sunday, too:Whatever happens this year, the Orioles absolutely flexed on the Yankees on the first weekend, and that’s awesome.Mountcastle to get first base reps at Triple-A (Orioles.com)If the Orioles do start sinking this year, it’s worth keeping in mind that the roster is probably going to change until things start working better.Dylan Bundy makes 2019 debut Sunday looking to rediscover pitcher he once was (Baltimore Sun)He did not discover the pitcher he once was, but the Orioles still won anyway.Birthdays and anniversariesThere are a pair of former Orioles with birthdays today. They are: 2000 utility infielder Rich Amaral Jose Reyes Jersey , and 1986-87 reliever Mike Kinnunen. If you remember either of those gentlemen, give yourself a cookie.Is today your birthday? Happy birthday to you! Your birthday buddies for today include: anatomy studies pioneer William Harvey (1578), early German leader Otto von Bismarck (1815), composer Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873), author Anne McCaffrey (1926), and funny man Taran Killam (1982).On this day in history...In 1789, the United States House of Representatives achieved a quorum for the first time, choosing to elect Pennsylvania’s Frederick Muhlenberg as its first speaker.In 1939, the Spanish Civil War ended with the surrender of the last Republican forces in the country, leading to 36 years of rule by Generalisimo Francisco Franco.In 1970, President Richard Nixon signed the Public Health Cigarette Smoking Act, which both banned cigarette advertising on television and radio and required Surgeon General’s warnings on all tobacco products.In 1997, the comet Hale-Bopp achieved its perihelion. This comet ultimately set a record by being visible to the naked eye for more than 18 months. It’s expected to return some time in the vicinity of the year 4385.**And that’s the way it is in Birdland on April 1 - or at least, until something happens later when the Orioles play the Blue Jays. Have a safe Monday. Go O’s!