{"id":4453,"date":"2020-06-09T05:21:00","date_gmt":"2020-06-09T02:21:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/alex-santos-hard-throwing-bronx-native-poised-for-big-mlb-draft-moment\/"},"modified":"2020-06-09T05:21:00","modified_gmt":"2020-06-09T02:21:00","slug":"alex-santos-hard-throwing-bronx-native-poised-for-big-mlb-draft-moment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/alex-santos-hard-throwing-bronx-native-poised-for-big-mlb-draft-moment\/","title":{"rendered":"#Alex Santos, hard-throwing Bronx native, poised for big MLB Draft moment"},"content":{"rendered":"

“#Alex Santos, hard-throwing Bronx native, poised for big MLB Draft moment<\/strong>”<\/p>\n

\n On a cold March day two years ago, 30 scouts made the trip<\/a> to Monsignor McClancy to see Quentin Holmes, the Queens school\u2019s highly rated senior center fielder.<\/p>\n

When Holmes took his at-bats, all the scouts paid close attention. McClancy\u2019s opponent, Mount St. Michael, was irrelevant \u2014 until coach Wally Stampfel inserted sophomore right-hander Alex Santos into the game<\/a> in the later innings.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m no dummy,\u201d the Mount St. Michael coach recalled with a laugh in a phone interview. \u201cAll of a sudden the scouts who weren\u2019t paying any attention to us, you could see slowly start app<\/a>roaching the backstop and breaking out their radar guns. You could just hear the buzz that was going on.\u201d<\/p>\n

After the game, one of the scouts approached him.<\/p>\n

\u201cWho\u2019s that kid?\u201d the impressed evaluator asked Stampfel. \u201cYou got to take good care of him. He\u2019s going to be a good one.\u201d<\/p>\n

The scout was right.<\/p>\n

Two years later, Santos is the premier high school prospect in the area, a projected first- or second-round pick in this week\u2019s shortened MLB draft. The hard-throwing Bronx native and Maryland signee with a mid-90s fastball has steadily progressed from that moment, his coming-out party, as Stampfel described it. He\u2019s ranked 45th among all draft prospects by Baseball America, 56th by MLB Pipeline and has had Zoom meetings with 15 different teams.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor us, it\u2019s like \u2018Pinch me, wake me up, is this a dream?\u2019 \u201d his father, Alex Santos Sr., said.<\/p>\n

\"Alex<\/img>
Alex Santos<\/span>Alex Santos Sr.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Family, and the passion they have for the sport, pushed the 18-year-old Santos in this direction. His father and uncles all played baseball in Puerto Rico. He grew up a stone\u2019s throw from Yankee Stadium, so close he could hear the Bleacher Creatures\u2019 roll call. The family frequently attended games there, until Santos\u2019 own drive to reach that stage one day became the focus.<\/p>\n

At 13, a chance encounter took his dreams to the next level. Santos Sr. and his son were working out at Van Cortlandt Park when they met Melvin Perez, a former minor leaguer with the Nationals. Perez offered Santos some swing tips and he got to talking to his father about his travel program, Team Citius Baseball. Santos would join him. His father later became a part owner of the Citius Baseball Academy in Mount Vernon.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was the best thing that ever happened to Alex\u2019s career I would have to say,\u201d Santos Sr. said.<\/p>\n

Perez had mentored current local major leaguers such as Andrew Velazquez and James Norwood, and saw similarities in Santos, in particular his work ethic and athleticism. He created a structure with Santos Sr. to mold his son into an elite prospect. That included working with a personal trainer, Joel Ramirez, who trains major leaguers in the offseason, and the last few years, bringing in a nutritionist. To get to this point, Santos had to give up certain freedoms most teenagers enjoy.<\/p>\n

\u201cEspecially earlier in your baseball career, when you\u2019re not really getting seen, there\u2019s no really going out with your friends,\u201d he said. \u201c[You] dedicate yourself to baseball.\u201d<\/p>\n