Monday, September 17, 2001

Santos showed
improvement in 2 areas
for Burlington Bees

The former St. Louis School player
continued to show power, while learning
patience at the plate

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By Al Chase
achase@starbulletin.com

Chad Santos knew there were two aspects of his game that needed improvement heading into his third season in the Kansas City Royals organization.

The first concern for the former St. Louis School player was the number of times he struck out (165 in 454 at-bats) in 2000. The other was improving his defense at first base.

There were improvements in both areas. In 121 games and 444 at-bats for the Burlington Bees of the Class-A Midwest League, Santos dropped his strikeout total to 101.

"I'm kind of a pull hitter," said the left-handed swinger. "This year I got a lot more gap hits. I know I'll react to the inside pitch, but I was focused on going the other way with the outside pitch, especially with two strikes. I tried to put the ball in play more with two strikes and that helped with the strikeouts a lot."

He has become a more patient hitter, an "older hitter" as he put it, one who is still learning.

Santos continued to show good power as a doubles and home-run hitter. He had 32 doubles and 16 round-trippers.

Bob Hegman, senior director of minor league operations for the Royals, said, "Chad put up some powerful numbers this year. He's a good defensive first baseman. It's a matter of him being more consistent (at the plate). He's a gap hitter and he's going to be in the middle of the batting order."

Santos will spend time in instructional league working on that consistency. He also wants to polish his defense, although he was pleased with the progress he made in that area this year.

"Overall, I think I did way better than last year," Santos said. " I think I opened up the eyes of our roving instructors. My defense improved big-time this year. I'm pretty happy about the year."

If there was a negative, it was playing in front of the smallest average crowds (about 500) in the league.

"The atmosphere at home was tough. The fans didn't appreciate us. They booed us more than cheered," Santos said. "The best four games of the year was when we went to Dayton (Ohio) where they have a new stadium and average 5,000 a night."

Jandin Thornton-Murray, Santos' teammate at St. Louis, spent the season at Boise, Idaho, in the Northwest League where he played second base, shortstop and was the designated hitter at the time.

Thornton-Murray showed an ability to spray the ball around with 15 doubles, five triples and four home runs. He finished with a .239 batting average.

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Chad Santos' career statistics

Height: 6-1. Weight: 215. Throws: Left. Bats: Left.

School: St. Louis

Year, Team, League	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	Avg.
1999-Royals, Gulf Coast	48	177	20	48	9	0	4	35	1	.271
2000-Charleston (W.Va.), South Atlantic	59	187	16	39	9	2	4	18	0	.209
2000-Spokane, Northwest	73	267	40	67	18	0	14	47	1	.252
2001-Burlington, Midwest	121	444	58	112	32	0	16	83	0	.251
Minor League Totals	301	1,075	134	266	78	2	22	183	2	.247

Highlights

>> Drafted in the 22nd round (661st overall) by the Kansas City Royals, June 2, 1999. Signed June 8, 1999.
>> Finished second in RBIs (35) in the Florida State League in 1999.
>> Led the Royals in strikeouts (54) in 1999.
>> Led the Northwest League in home runs (14), extra base hits (32) and strikeouts (103), tied for third in doubles (18) and runs batted in (47) and was fourth in slugging percentage (.476) in 2000.