Cy Young Profile: Johan Santana, 2006

Pitcher, Minnesota Twins

Age:  27

7^th season with Twins

Bats – Left, Throws – Left

Height: 6’0”    Weight: 210 

Prior to 2006:

A native of Venezuela, where his engineer father was also a semipro baseball player, Santana sought to emulate his father by playing shortstop in his youth, learning to throw right-handed so he could properly field the position. Playing for his local team, the Chiquilines, as a teenager, he was utilized in center field, where he lacked speed and was not a proficient hitter. Signed by the Houston Astros as a 17-year-old in 1995, he was converted into a pitcher and performed well in the Dominican Summer League in 1996. Promoted to the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League in 1997, he struggled while appearing in nine games and posted an 0-4 record with a 7.93 ERA. He finished the year with Auburn of the Class A New York-Pennsylvania League where he stayed in 1998 and in 15 starts went 7-5 with a 4.36 ERA and 88 strikeouts in 86.2 innings pitched. Santana, whose fastball, curve, and changeup were improving along with his arm strength, finished up the year by appearing in two games with Quad Cities in the Class A Midwest League in ’98. In 1999 he remained in the Midwest League and pitched for the Michigan Battle Cats where he went 8-8 with a 4.66 ERA and 150 strikeouts in 160 innings. Exposed by the Astros in the 1999 Rule 5 draft, Santana was obtained by the Twins, who were compelled to keep him on the major league roster. Used out of the bullpen with Minnesota in 2000, he appeared in 30 games (five of them starts) and produced a 2-3 mark with a 6.49 ERA. He reduced his ERA to 4.74 in 2001 and spent two months in 2002 with Edmonton of the Class AAA Pacific Coast League where he worked on his changeup before returning to the Twins and going 8-6 in 27 appearances (14 starts) with a 2.99 ERA and 137 strikeouts in 108.1 innings while also leading the league with 15 wild pitches. Valued for his ability out of the bullpen, Santana was moved into the starting rotation in July of 2003 and went on to finish with a 12-3 record and 3.07 ERA with 169 strikeouts while compiling 158.1 innings. The Twins topped the AL Central Division but lost to the Yankees in the ALDS while a sore hamstring hindered Santana’s performance. Heading into 2004, he was the team’s breakout pitching star, and he delivered a Cy Young Award-winning season. He led the American League with a 2.61 ERA and 265 strikeouts to go along with a 20-6 tally and 228 innings pitched for the division-winning Twins. He started the only win for Minnesota in the ALDS loss to the Yankees in the postseason. Santana followed up with another strong season in 2005, going 16-7 with a 2.87 ERA and again leading the circuit with 238 strikeouts while the Twins dropped to third place in the division. The star lefthander placed third in American League Cy Young voting.   

2006 Season Summary

Appeared in 34 games

[Bracketed numbers indicate AL rank in Top 20]

Pitching

Games – 34

Games Started – 34 [1, tied with four others]

Complete Games – 1 [17, tied with 24 others]

Wins – 19 [1, tied with Chien-Ming Wang]

Losses – 6

PCT - .760 [2, tied with Chien-Ming Wang]

Saves – 0

Shutouts – 0

Innings Pitched – 233.2 [1]

Hits – 186

Runs – 79

Earned Runs – 72

Home Runs – 24 [20, tied with Gil Meche & Brad Radke]

Bases on Balls – 47

Strikeouts – 245 [1]

ERA – 2.77 [1]

Hit Batters – 4

Balks – 1 [15, tied with many others]

Wild Pitches – 4

League-leading innings pitched were +10.2 ahead of runner-up Dan Haren

League-leading strikeouts were +43 ahead of runner-up Jeremy Bonderman

League-leading ERA was -0.42 lower than runner-up Roy Halladay

Midseason Snapshot: 9-5, ERA - 2.95, SO – 138 in 131 IP

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Most strikeouts, game – 13 (in 8 IP) vs. Boston 6/13

10+ strikeout games – 9

Fewest hits allowed, game (min. 7 IP) – 2 (in 8 IP) at Oakland 6/2, (in 8 IP) at Tampa Bay 9/5, (in 7 IP) vs. LA Dodgers 6/28

 Batting

PA – 2, AB – 2, R – 0, H – 0, 2B – 0, 3B – 0, HR – 0, RBI – 0, BB – 0, SO – 2, SB – 0, CS – 0, AVG - .000, GDP – 0, HBP – 0, SH – 0, SF – 0

Fielding

Chances – 45

Put Outs – 12

Assists – 32

Errors – 1

DP – 2

Pct. - .978

Postseason Pitching: G – 1, (ALDS vs. Oakland)

GS – 1, CG – 0, Record – 0-1, PCT – .000, SV – 0, ShO – 0, IP – 8, H – 5, R – 2, ER – 2, HR – 1, BB – 1, SO – 8, ERA – 2.25, HB – 0, BLK – 0, WP – 0

Awards & Honors:

AL Cy Young Award: BBWAA

AL Pitcher of the Year: Sporting News

All-Star

7^th in AL MVP voting (114 points, 1 first place vote, 29% share)

AL Cy Young voting (Top 4):

Johan Santana, Min.: 140 points – 28 of 28 first place votes, 100% share

Chien-Ming Wang, NYY: 51 points – 36% share

Roy Halladay, Tor.: 48 points – 34% share

Francisco Rodriguez, LAA.: 5 points – 4% share

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Twins went 96-66 to finish first in the AL Central Division by 1 game over the Detroit Tigers. The pitching staff led the league in ERA (4.03) and strikeouts (1164, tied with the Angels), while issuing the fewest walks (356). Off to a slow start that had the Twins at 24-28 and 10.5 games behind the Tigers by the end of May, they surged in the second half to catch Detroit on Sept. 28 and clinched the AL Central title on the season’s last day. Lost ALDS to the Oakland Athletics, 3 games to 0.

Aftermath of ‘06:

Santana had one last All-Star season with the Twins in 2007, posting a 15-13 mark with a 3.33 ERA and 235 strikeouts. He also received a Gold Glove for his fielding prowess. Facing difficult decisions on payroll, the Twins traded Santana to the New York Mets for four young players in 2008. The Mets signed him to a seven-year, $137.5 million contract extension. He performed well in ’08 with a 16-7 tally (including 8-0 in the season’s second half) and NL-best 2.53 ERA and 234.1 innings pitched while also striking out 206 batters. Limited to 25 starts due to injury in 2009, Santana was still an All-Star on his way to producing a 13-9 record with a 3.13 ERA and 146 strikeouts while pitching 166.2 innings. A shoulder injury that required surgery knocked him out of action in September of 2010 and he finished at 11-9 with a still-respectable 2.98 ERA, although his strikeouts dropped to 144 in 199 innings pitched. Santana missed all of 2011 due to recovery from his surgery, much to the consternation of Mets fans. Returning to action in 2012, he produced a 6-9 record that included the first no-hitter in franchise history. In an uneven year that included two stints on the disabled list due to an ankle and back injuries, his ERA was 4.85 and he recorded 111 strikeouts while pitching 117 innings. Further shoulder surgery cost Santana the entire 2013 season and the Mets bought out the remainder of his contract, rendering him a free agent. He had abortive minor league trials with the Orioles and Blue Jays but never made it back to the major leagues. For his major league career, Santana compiled a 139-78 record with a 3.20 ERA, 15 complete games, 10 shutouts, and 1988 strikeouts in 2025.2 innings. With the Twins he was 93-44 with a 3.22 ERA, 6 complete games, 4 shutouts, and 1381 strikeouts in 1308.2 innings. Pitching in 11 postseason games, he had a 1-3 record with a 3.97 ERA and 32 strikeouts in 34 innings. In addition to receiving two Cy Young Awards, Santana was a four-time All-Star. He was inducted into the Minnesota Twins Hall of Fame in 2018.

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Cy Young Profiles feature pitchers who were recipients of the Cy Young Award by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America (1956 to present). The award was presented to a single major league winner from its inception through 1966 and from 1967 on to one recipient from each major league.