MWL notes: Santana puts ills behind him

Alex Santana is carving out his own place in baseball from the lessons taught to him by his father, former Major Leaguer Rafael Santana.

As a youth, Santana lived with his grandmother in La Romana, Dominican Republic, in order to develop the hunger and drive to be a professional baseball player. A 2011 Dodgers second-round pick, Santana returned to the Dominican Republic before the start of the 2015 season to work with his father and learn more lessons about the game ahead of his return to Class A Great Lakes.

It was his best offseason, but it turned into his worst offseason. Santana was struck with strep throat and a stomach virus.

"I had the first week where I trained with my father, then the next two weeks I got sick and I didn't do anything," said Santana, who was moved by the Dodgers from third base to the outfield last season. "I literally sat there and lost weight. It was my most productive offseason as far as putting in the work, and in two weeks, it was all wiped out. I lost 16 pounds."

And it didn't stop there. Santana reported to Spring Training, put in one day and then suffered a torn oblique muscle. The injury likely happened because the outfielder was dehydrated from his illness.

Santana didn't play again until April 17, when he was able to take the field for an extended spring training game.

Joining the Loons on May 11, he made an impact soon after with a walk-off single in the 11th inning to lift the Loons past Lake County on May 22. He's hitting .304 in 24 games and went on a recent tear, going 7-for-11 during a three-game span.

"The oblique really affects everything," Santana said of his injury. "The Dodgers spend a lot of time with me, making sure everything was good before I came back. They had my own strength program. They had me eating well and hydrating a lot. I wouldn't say I'm at exactly the same strength I was in the offseason before I got sick, but I'm close. I'm certainly not going to let it hold me back.

"I've never been a person who needed a whole lot of games or reps to be ready to go full-speed," he added. "I got a good amount of at-bats in Spring Training. I got in about three-and-a-half weeks of games."

Santana hit .241 for Great Lakes last season and was determined to take his game to a higher level.

"I really focused on body development," Santana said of his plan for this past winter. "I have a long, big frame, and I thought it was the right time to get more coordinated and more efficient with my movement. I put in a lot of work. I really was in the best shape of my life.

"The Dodgers have great people who are really big on body development, doing the right movement, strengthening the right muscles that incorporate into baseball. I carried that into the offseason. It really was the right time for me to make an emphasis on developing my body."

Great Lakes manager Luis Matos said Santana has the tools to reach the Major Leagues.

"Alex is very strong, and he's got a good arm," Matos said. "He's got speed, and he's a good hitter. That's why he's a valuable prospect.

"Alex can hit for power to the opposite field, and when you hit for power to the opposite field, you're going to recognize breaking pitches better than anything," Matos added. "In this game, if you do that early in your career, you're going to be a good hitter. I think that's why he's hitting the ball everywhere, and with authority."

Santana said he locked in on mental development and preparation as well as body development.

"My father has always been great about helping me out on the mental side," Santana said. "I'm not the best with failure. He always has helped me out with moving on to the next at-bat.

"My father was a first-base coach with the White Sox when I got the most time in the clubhouse. I was hanging around with guys like Frank Thomas and Carlos Lee and Magglio Ordonez. I saw how they carried themselves. I also know the Minor League life. My father managed in the Minors for a couple of years, and I spent a couple of summers with him in Birmingham and saw how that was as well. It's all about preparation. Even at the age of 11 and 12 years old, I saw what the difference is between Minor Leaguers and big leaguers."

In brief

Line-up shuffle: Fort Wayne center fielder Michael Gettys, the Padres' second-round pick last year, has been dropped from the top of the lineup to the No. 6 spot. Gettys had batted in each of the top three spots of the lineup before the move. He's hitting .227 after a rough May in which he hit .182, and he has struck out 51 times in his past 113 at-bats.

MLB legacies: Dereck Rodriguez, the son of longtime Major League catcher Ivan "Pudge" Rodriguez, has joined the Cedar Rapids Kernels. An outfielder-turned-pitcher, Rodriguez was drafted in the sixth round by the Twins in 2011. He is 2-2 with a 0.98 ERA in his Minor League career as a pitcher. Cedar Rapids' roster also includes Nick Gordon, the son of former Major League reliever Tom Gordon.

Brother vs. brother: When Kane County took on Peoria, brothers Colin Bray and Tyler Bray lined up on opposite sides of the field. Colin plays centerfield for Kane County, while Tyler is a relief pitcher for Peoria.