Orioles Hope Anthony Santander Is A-Grade

BALTIMORE—The Orioles will try again to keep a player on their roster who’s making the jump from Class A.

It worked in 2015 with pitcher Jason Garcia. Maybe it will happen again in 2017 after the Orioles chose outfielder Anthony Santander from the Indians in the Rule 5 draft.

Santander, a 22-year old switch-hitter from Venezuela, batted .290/.368/.494 with 42 doubles, 20 home runs and 95 RBIs in 128 games at high Class A Lynchburg. He’s a career .271/.343/.449 hitter in five minor league seasons.

“He’s a disciple of Victor Martinez,” general manager Dan Duquette said. “If you see him play, he has a lot of Martinez’s mannerisms. He has a similar stance. Excellent young hitter. He was the best young player in the Carolina League.

“He had 95 RBIs, hit over 20 home runs and is just 22 years old. He was the youngest player we were considering for the draft. But we like his capability to hit in the big leagues from both sides of the plate with power.”

Health currently is an issue with Santander, who had shoulder surgery. The Orioles didn’t have access to his full medical records, but they weren’t overly concerned.

“He recently had a surgery, but at 22 years old, we think there is enough ability there, particularly with the bat, to take a chance on him and get him into our organization,” Duquette said. “That was a good club that the Indians had in the Carolina League and this kid was the best offensive player in the league. Had a lot of extra base hits.”

Will Santander be ready for spring training?

“We’re going to find out a little bit more about that,” Duquette said. “But I believe he’s got good ability and power from both sides of the plate. He has youth and he is a very good offensive player.”

BIRD SEED

• The Orioles were expected to hire Butch Davis as a minor league coach. The Twins fired Davis after two seasons as first base coach. Davis, a candidate to become Double-A Bowie’s field coach, held a variety of jobs with the Orioles from 1997-2014.

• Outfielder Aneury Tavarez batted .283/.349/.362 with three doubles, three home runs and 13 RBIs in 46 games with Gigantes del Cibao. The Orioles selected Tavarez in the Rule 5 draft from the Red Sox before they took Santander.

— Roch Kubatko covers the Orioles for MASNsports.com