StaTuesday: Ervin Santana's timely hitting rare for AL pitchers

Minnesota Twins pitcher Ervin Santana has just two hits this season.

The first came in game 53, back on June 9, when his three-run double helped the Twins to a 4-0 win over the San Francisco Giants.

The second dropped nearly 100 games later, when Santana drove in two runs with a single in a 5-2 win over the San Diego Padres.

That's already enough to make him one of the most prolific Twins pitchers of the last 40 years at the plate.

More importantly, Santana's five RBI are the most by an American League pitcher -- anyAmerican League pitcher -- since the designated hitter rule came about in 1973.

Most RBI by an American League pitcher in the DH era (1973-Present)

His performance in 2017 ranks 22nd on the Twins' all-time list.

It's a list dominated by Camilo Pascual (delightfully nicknamed "Little Potato"), Jim Kaat and Mudcat Grant (who also plays the blues. More on that here.), all of whom spent the better part of the '60s giving the Twins decent production at the plate prior to the introduction of the DH rule.

Most RBI by Twins pitcher in a season - Sorted by year (1961-2017)

It's been tough sledding for Twins pitchers since 1997, when the advent of interleague play forced American League pitchers back to the plate while playing in National League ballparks.

Pascual had 19 RBI during the 1962 season, but Santana is the first Twins pitcher to crack the top 25 since 1997, and the first to even have an RBI since Kevin Correia did it in 2014.

Most RBI by a Twins pitcher in a season

Santana got both of his hits in complete games (he has five of those. No other pitcher has more than three), suggesting that perhaps the Twins' ace is a Silver Slugger in exile, his talents wasted in the AL.

Well …

He started 31 games for the Atlanta Braves in 2014, his only season in the NL, producing just seven hits and one RBI in 63 at bats for a slash line of .111/.138/.127.

Maybe not.