Are Phillies Getting Less Than They Expected From Carlos Santana?

In his first season in a Phillies uniform, Carlos Santana has not played up to the expectations for what many fans would desire from a 32 Year Old Slugger who signed a three year contract paying him over 20 Million dollars this season. Despite ranking top five in the National League in Walks (88) and Sacrifice Flies (6), Santana has just a .215 Batting Average and .350 On-Base Percentage. Santana is still on pace to hit 22 Home Runs and 90 RBI this season but his struggles at the plate made it necessary for the Phillies to acquire Slugger Justin Bour on August 10th.

USA Today Baseball Writer Steve Gardner joined Rich Quinones on Thursday and talked about what he expects from Carlos Santana for the remainder of the 2018 season:

"I don’t know if you’re gonna see Santana benched or anything like that, but maybe a couple of days off...maybe he moves down in the (batting) order - Maybe that gets Santana back into his previous form and he becomes an important part of the offense....It’s all about getting on base with him. The Phillies knew exactly what they were getting when they signed him; not only the veteran leadership but he’s gonna have a low (Batting Average), he’s gonna have a pretty decent On-Base Percentage, and he’s gonna hit some (Home Runs). I think right now you can’t really say that you got less than you expected because that’s who Carlos Santana is."

Hear what Gardner had to say about if Gabe Kapler should be a Manager of the Year Candidate, perspective on Braves-Marlins incident from Wednesday night, and outlook for American League best teams heading down the stretch of the 2018 season