{"id":2581,"date":"2021-05-01T14:35:55","date_gmt":"2021-05-01T19:35:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.webfxonline.com\/?p=2581"},"modified":"2021-05-07T15:49:45","modified_gmt":"2021-05-07T20:49:45","slug":"matheny-on-santana-he-stepped-up-big","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.webfxonline.com\/?p=2581","title":{"rendered":"Matheny on Santana: &#8216;He stepped up big&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-video\"><video height=\"720\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1280 \/ 720;\" width=\"1280\" autoplay controls poster=\"https:\/\/www.webfxonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/20130830_mje_sx9_1065.0.jpg\" src=\"https:\/\/www.webfxonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Ervin-Santana-pitches-four-strong-relief-innings.mp4\"><\/video><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The Royals had an unexpected bullpen game Friday night against the Twins when starting pitcher Brady Singer was removed from the game after he was&nbsp;hit in the foot&nbsp;by a line drive. The six remaining innings of the game were left to three Royals relievers, but it was&nbsp;Ervin Santana&nbsp;who made the biggest impression.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cHe was built up for four, and we needed to get Wade [Davis] on the mound. That\u2019s impressive physically,\u201d manager Mike Matheny said. \u201cAnd I would say it\u2019s equally, if not more so, impressive how he\u2019s emotionally handling this and wanting to contribute, wanting and getting built up to come and help and show what he can do.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Santana took over in the fourth after Tyler Zuber allowed three earned runs in the third to an aggressive Twins offense. Among the 16 batters Santana faced, only one was able to push a run across in his four innings of work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt was trying to minimize the damage. I know they\u2019re very aggressive, and they hit a lot of home runs,\u201d Santana said. \u201cSo, I just try to keep the ball in the park and then keep the ball down, and anything can happen. And it was a good thing I did throw four innings today. It was good. I saved the bullpen.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Kansas City is in the midst of playing 10 games in 10 days, and a bullpen game out the gate was not in the plans. But moving forward, a taxed bullpen shouldn\u2019t be a concern, as Santana impressively took the bulk of the innings after not pitching in 10 days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cFor me the key was, don\u2019t think about how many days I\u2019ve gone without throwing,\u201d Santana said. \u201cJust go out there and throw strikes. Get the ball down for the most part.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The veteran is settling into his new role as a reliever. Friday\u2019s game was his third appearance this season and the most he\u2019s been used in an outing. He finished the night with over a 50% strike rate and two strikeouts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While Santana hasn\u2019t seen a lot of playing time thus far, he\u2019s ready to go every game if his name is called.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201c[Trying] to stay sharp mentally and then not get into a negative spot in his mind. Both of those combined are very impressive,\u201d Matheny said. \u201cHe comes out making really good pitches, and really just the one mark against him. I was extremely impressed, as I\u2019ve been all season long. We\u2019ve talked about pros &#8212; this guy\u2019s a pro. He comes in every day with a great attitude, ready to do whatever we need him to do, and today we needed him to step up and he stepped up big.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"pvc_clear\"><\/div><p id=\"pvc_stats_2581\" class=\"pvc_stats all  \" data-element-id=\"2581\" style=\"\"><i class=\"pvc-stats-icon medium\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><svg aria-hidden=\"true\" focusable=\"false\" data-prefix=\"far\" data-icon=\"chart-bar\" role=\"img\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" viewBox=\"0 0 512 512\" class=\"svg-inline--fa fa-chart-bar fa-w-16 fa-2x\"><path fill=\"currentColor\" d=\"M396.8 352h22.4c6.4 0 12.8-6.4 12.8-12.8V108.8c0-6.4-6.4-12.8-12.8-12.8h-22.4c-6.4 0-12.8 6.4-12.8 12.8v230.4c0 6.4 6.4 12.8 12.8 12.8zm-192 0h22.4c6.4 0 12.8-6.4 12.8-12.8V140.8c0-6.4-6.4-12.8-12.8-12.8h-22.4c-6.4 0-12.8 6.4-12.8 12.8v198.4c0 6.4 6.4 12.8 12.8 12.8zm96 0h22.4c6.4 0 12.8-6.4 12.8-12.8V204.8c0-6.4-6.4-12.8-12.8-12.8h-22.4c-6.4 0-12.8 6.4-12.8 12.8v134.4c0 6.4 6.4 12.8 12.8 12.8zM496 400H48V80c0-8.84-7.16-16-16-16H16C7.16 64 0 71.16 0 80v336c0 17.67 14.33 32 32 32h464c8.84 0 16-7.16 16-16v-16c0-8.84-7.16-16-16-16zm-387.2-48h22.4c6.4 0 12.8-6.4 12.8-12.8v-70.4c0-6.4-6.4-12.8-12.8-12.8h-22.4c-6.4 0-12.8 6.4-12.8 12.8v70.4c0 6.4 6.4 12.8 12.8 12.8z\" class=\"\"><\/path><\/svg><\/i> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"16\" height=\"16\" alt=\"Loading\" src=\"https:\/\/www.webfxonline.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/page-views-count\/ajax-loader-2x.gif\" border=0 \/><\/p><div class=\"pvc_clear\"><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\"><p>The Royals had an unexpected bullpen game Friday night against the Twins when starting pitcher Brady Singer was removed from the game after he was&nbsp;hit in the foot&nbsp;by a line drive. The six remaining innings <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.webfxonline.com\/?p=2581\" title=\"Matheny on Santana: &#8216;He stepped up big&#8217;\">[read more]<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"pvc_clear\"><\/div>\n<p id=\"pvc_stats_2581\" class=\"pvc_stats all  \" data-element-id=\"2581\" style=\"\"><i class=\"pvc-stats-icon medium\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><svg aria-hidden=\"true\" focusable=\"false\" data-prefix=\"far\" data-icon=\"chart-bar\" role=\"img\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" viewBox=\"0 0 512 512\" class=\"svg-inline--fa fa-chart-bar fa-w-16 fa-2x\"><path fill=\"currentColor\" d=\"M396.8 352h22.4c6.4 0 12.8-6.4 12.8-12.8V108.8c0-6.4-6.4-12.8-12.8-12.8h-22.4c-6.4 0-12.8 6.4-12.8 12.8v230.4c0 6.4 6.4 12.8 12.8 12.8zm-192 0h22.4c6.4 0 12.8-6.4 12.8-12.8V140.8c0-6.4-6.4-12.8-12.8-12.8h-22.4c-6.4 0-12.8 6.4-12.8 12.8v198.4c0 6.4 6.4 12.8 12.8 12.8zm96 0h22.4c6.4 0 12.8-6.4 12.8-12.8V204.8c0-6.4-6.4-12.8-12.8-12.8h-22.4c-6.4 0-12.8 6.4-12.8 12.8v134.4c0 6.4 6.4 12.8 12.8 12.8zM496 400H48V80c0-8.84-7.16-16-16-16H16C7.16 64 0 71.16 0 80v336c0 17.67 14.33 32 32 32h464c8.84 0 16-7.16 16-16v-16c0-8.84-7.16-16-16-16zm-387.2-48h22.4c6.4 0 12.8-6.4 12.8-12.8v-70.4c0-6.4-6.4-12.8-12.8-12.8h-22.4c-6.4 0-12.8 6.4-12.8 12.8v70.4c0 6.4 6.4 12.8 12.8 12.8z\" class=\"\"><\/path><\/svg><\/i> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"16\" height=\"16\" alt=\"Loading\" src=\"https:\/\/www.webfxonline.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/page-views-count\/ajax-loader-2x.gif\" border=0 \/><\/p>\n<div class=\"pvc_clear\"><\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2583,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"video","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-2581","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-video","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"post_format-post-format-video"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v20.11 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Matheny on Santana: &#039;He stepped up big&#039; -<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.webfxonline.com\/?p=2581\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Matheny on Santana: &#039;He stepped up big&#039; -\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Royals had an unexpected bullpen game Friday night against the Twins when starting pitcher Brady Singer was removed from the game after he was&nbsp;hit in the foot&nbsp;by a line drive. 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