Marc Lancaster reports that Santos will compete for the 5th spot in the rotation.
“He’s a versatile guy that can start and relieve,” said Reds general manager Wayne Krivsky. “He’s going to come to camp and, at least at the outset, compete for a starting spot. That’s what he was signed to do.
He’ll fight it out with the likes of Matt Belisle, Elizardo Ramirez, Bobby Livingston and Phil Dumatrait for the final starting job. You can put Homer Bailey’s name on that list if you like, but he probably will begin the season in Louisville.
I have to think that Santos may have the inside track for that 5th spot right now. He stacks up pretty well with Milton and Lohse over the last three seasons. The following data is from my rotation slot analysis the last three seasons, the number in front of their name is what rotation slot they ranked via their XERA for that season.
2006 ERA GS IP WHIP XERA #4 E Milton 5.19 26 152.7 1.34 5.00 #4 V Santos 5.19 19 102.3 1.61 5.46 #4 K Lohse 6.19 19 100.3 1.60 5.56 2005 ERA GS IP WHIP XERA #4 VSantos 4.56 24 134.3 1.48 4.93 #4 KLohse 4.18 30 176.6 1.43 4.94 #5 EMilton 6.47 34 186.3 1.55 6.27 2004 ERA GS IP WHIP XERA #3 V Santos 4.86 28 150.0 1.45 4.67 #4 E Milton 4.75 34 201.0 1.35 4.95 #5 K Lohse 5.36 34 193.0 1.63 5.79
All three of these guys look like #4 rotation slot pitchers. I see the battle for the 5th spot in spring training to be between Santos, Ramirez, and hopefully Belisle.