I’ve never been a huge Ramon Santiago fan.  Not to say I don’t like him, I just always thought there was someone a bit better then he was and while I know he’s a solid defensive player, he wasn’t much on offense.  The question is, has Ramon found his stroke.  I heard on the radio that he trained with David Ortiz in the offseason and he’s to spring and he’s hit the ball pretty well when he’s in the lineup.  He’s five for 17 and he’s second on the team with two homeruns heading into today’s game, which gives him a .647 slugging percentage.   And while he hasn’t drawn a walk yet, he’s only struck out once.  He’s zero for two today with a strikeout, but that was against a very effective John Maine.

So say Ramon Santiago has found a touch of a stroke.  While I’d never expect him to hit 20 homeruns or hit .300, if he could hit .260 (his career batting average is .227) with a little more power then he’s shown in the past, he’d give Jim Leyland a ton of flexibility because both Santiago and Omar Infante (who’s a solid hitter in his own right) can play anywhere in the infield.  Santiago’s also a switch hitter which makes him even more interesting and with his glove, he’s always good as a late inning defensive replacement.

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