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ANALYSIS: Texas Ranger outfielder Danny Santana - who's also first and second base eligible - is having the best year of his career, at age 28 and on his third team. Entering 2019, Santana hadn't had a productive year since 2015 with the Twins, when he slashed .319/.353/.472 with 70 RBI and 20 stolen bases. Never a power hitter - with a career .120 ISO entering the 2019 - Santana has seemingly unlocked a new level of production, already having hit nine home, eclipsing his previous high by two. But it's in the ISO department where Santana has seen an even larger improvement, posting a .229 ISO so far in 2019 that is 80 points higher than his previous career-best.
But Santana's ISO isn't the only thing that has gone up, as his average launch angle has seen a significant jump in 2019, currently averaging 13.6-degrees for the year. This after a 9.7-degree angle in a limited 35 at-bat sample with the Braves the previous year, and a 3.4-degree angle the year before that with the Twins. In addition to the career highs in isolated power and launch angle, Santana's 43.6 % hard-hit rate is also 15 points higher than his previous career average of 28.4%
While a switch-hitter, Santana is still very vulnerable to left-handers - with a batting average 100 points lower, and a strike-out rate 13 points higher. But with a seemingly newfound embrace of launch angle - as well as eligibility at three positions - Danny Santana can be a useful addition heading into the All-Star Break.
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