Halos’ Jekyll and Hyde show resumes Friday with return of Santana

Written by: William Martinez on 3rd July 2009

Halos' Jekyll and Hyde show resumes Friday with return of Santana | read this item

The Angels may never say it publicly, however, the inner grumblings figure to be going full blast when Ervin Santana takes the mound on Friday against the Baltimore Orioles at Angel Stadium.

Through his four-plus years in the majors, to say that the 26-year-old right-hander has been something of a mystery would be a vast understatement.

While there has been no denying Santana’s pure talent as a pitcher, there has also been no end to the questions surrounding his mental approach to the game and how well he deals with adversity, which leads to the following question: Which Santana will the Angels get this time.

After a solid 16-win season in his first full year in the majors in 2006, Santana followed it up in 2007 with a campaign so bad that he was demoted to the minors, winning just seven games and seeing his ERA balloon from 4.28 to 5.76.

Things were so bad that Santana, who had been all but assured a spot in the rotation before, instead found himself in a fight with southpaw Joe Saunders for what looked like the fifth and final spot in the Halos’ staff.

Fate then smiled on both pitchers when John Lackey missed a month and Kelvim Escobar underwent surgery that sidelined him for the year. Santana took full advanatage by winning 16 games for the second time and setting a career-best with a 3.49 ERA.

However, the ride came to an abrupt halt when an elbow strain sidelined the young hurler throughout both Spring Training and the first month of the regular season. Santana’s return, while showing flashes of brilliance in an outing against the Tigers on June 11th, was mostly another bust, with the worst performance a one-inning, seven-runs-on-nine-hits stinker against the White Sox on May 25th.

So while Santana returns from the DL for the second time this season, fans have only one question: Can he learn to pitch with average stuff and be a conributor on a team that has overcome mountains of issues to stay in contention?

We won’t know for sure until he has a shaky inning. Until then, fans throughout Orange County will keep their fingers crossed.

Meanwhile, 21-year-old Sean O’Sullivan will stay in the rotation and start on July 4th, with 30-year-old Matt Palmer back in the bullpen for his second stint as a reliever. O’Sullivan has been rock solid in his three starts, allowing just six runs in his first three starts covering 18 innings.

A third-round pick in 2005, O’Sullivan has done well enough that people have largely forgotten the disaster that was the Anthony Ortega call-up at the end of April.

However, the guy to feel for in all this is Palmer. While he has had his moments, his days in the majors this season will largely hinge on whether or not Escobar can return in any capacity. If the veteran can pitch out of the bullpen, Palmer would almost certainly be headed back to Salt Lake.