The Domingo Santana experiment is over

The Astros have decided to send Domingo Santana back to AAA Oklahoma City after just 13 at-bats in the big leagues. That decision seems like a good one, considering the 21-year old outfielder struck out in 11 of those 13 trips to the plate.

Astros beat writer Brian McTaggart is reporting that the club will bring up RHP David Martinez to take Santana’s place on the roster.

The move comes at a time when the Astros bullpen is in need of a fresh arm. And that’s exactly what Martinez provides. Martinez, who turns 27 next month, has spent ten seasons in the Astros minor league system. He made four big league appearances last season, giving up 11 runs and 16 hits in 11 & 1/3 innings of work.

So far this year, Martinez has a 4.92 ERA in 75 innings with Oklahoma City. Twelve of his 16 appearances have been as a starter, including his most recent outing. Five days ago David was touched up for eight runs and 11 hits in a four inning outing in Colorado Springs.

The Astros will now be working with an extra arm in the bullpen and one less position player as they limp towards the All-Star break. Collin McHugh gets the ball today, hoping to put an end to Houston’s 6-game losing streak. If the right-hander falters, expect Martinez to be the first pitcher called upon out of the bullpen.

As for Santana, the youngster has all of the tools needed to be an above average player at the major league level. Unfortunately, things didn’t go well for him in his first taste of big league action. But we haven’t seen the last of Domingo. I expect him to be back in an Astros uniform and performing at a productive level this September.