Carlos Santana

At 38 years old, Carlos Santana has this physical status:

Carlos Santana (born April 8, 1986), nicknamed "Slamtana," is a Dominican-American professional baseball first baseman, designated hitter, and catcher for the Cleveland Indians of Major League Baseball. (MLB).

On June 11, 2010, he made his MLB debut with the Indians and also spent the 2018 season with the Philadelphia Phillies.

He has competed for the Dominican Republic national team, winning the gold medal in the 2013 World Baseball Classic (WBC).

Santana has also excelled at first base, thanks to his plate discipline and strength.

He stands 5 feet 11 inches (1.80 m) tall, weighs 210 pounds (95 kg), throws right-handed, and is a switch hitter. Santana has hit at least 18 home runs while finishing within the top four in the league in bases on balls this season.

He was named an MLB All-Star in 2019, has twice appeared in the MLB Japan All-Star Series, and in 2017, was named Wilson Defensive Player of the Year at first base.

Santana set new Indians' club records for both home runs and in a single season, as well as career runs batted in (RBI).

He received Most Valuable Player Awards (MVPs), first of the High-A California League and then of the AA Eastern League, in consecutive minor league seasons from 2008-2009.

In 2008, he was named High A Player of the Year in 2008, India's Minor League Player of the Year in 2009, and the Indians' Top Prospect in 2009 and 2010. Santana, a native of Santo Domingo, first joined the Los Angeles Dodgers as an amateur free agent on August 13, 2004.

He was in the Dodgers' youth league system until July 26, 2008, when he was traded to the Indians.

He split his time between catcher and first base in 2013 and 2013, but since then, he has mostly played first base and designated hitter, as well as some third base.

Santana signed with the Philadelphia Phillies for three years prior to the 2018 season and became a free agent.

He was with the Seattle Mariners for a brief period until being traded back to Cleveland in December.

Early life

Santana, Mexico, has five sisters and two brothers. When they were 15 years old, their parents started divorce proceedings. After the divorce, Santana and his siblings lived with his mother, which gave him the opportunity to play baseball, but his sisters soon emerged as a father figure. He and his neighbors played baseball in a 5-on-5 system, but they didn't have to swing with bats, they used baseball caps instead. Santana received a $75,000 reward after signing with the Los Angeles Dodgers, while paying a part of the money to buy his mother a house.

Personal life

Santana is married, and his family resides in Cleveland. Although he played for Philadelphia in the 2018 season, he remained in Cleveland. He said he liked the local police and a young boy with cerebral palsy named Niko Lanzarotta – who also named him as his best friend in Cleveland – as part of his family.

Santana became a naturalized United States citizen on April 19, 2019.

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Professional career

In 2005, Santana signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers. He began his professional baseball career with the Gulf Coast Dodgers, the rookie level minor league affiliate. He played 32 games in 2005 and batted.295. He played primarily at third base, while also playing in left field and right field.

The Dodgers traded Santana and pitcher Jon Meloan to the Cleveland Indians for third baseman Casey Blake on July 26, 2008. Santana appeared in 130 games as a member of the Akron Aeros, Inland Empire 66ers of San Bernardino, and Kinston Indians during the 2008 season, with the majority of the team residing in San Bernardino and Kinston playing mainly catcher. On offense, he batted out.336 on-base percentage (OBP), 568 on-base percentage (SLG), 117 runs scored, 21 home runs, and 85 strikeouts. Santana was named the California League Most Valuable Player (MVP). He was also named Hi-A Player of the Year and selected for the Hi-A All-Star team, California League All-Star team, and Baseball America's All-Star second team.

Santana was Baseball America's top prospect in the Indians organization going into the 2009 season. He was assigned to the Aeros of the AA-level Eastern League, batted.290, 413 OBP,.530 SLG, 23 home runs, 90 BB, and 83 strikeouts. He finished fifth in the league with a 30 percent stolen clip while assisting the club in winning the Southern Division championship. He was named the starting catcher for the Southern Division of the Eastern League All-Star Game and played in the All-Star Futures Game at Busch Stadium in St. Louis. Santana also received the Eastern League MVP Award and was named the Indians' 2009 Minor League Player of the Year, as well as the "Lou Boudreau Award."

For the second time since the 2010 season, Baseball America named Santana as the organization's top prospect. He was drafted by the club to the Triple-A Columbus Clippers, where he batted.316 with 13 home runs and 51 RBI in 57 games before his first major league call up.

Santana made his MLB debut on June 11, 2010. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, he batted third in the order, making him the first Tribe player to debut hitting third after Jim Norris in 1977. In the second inning off Washington Nationals pitcher J. D. Martin, Santana recorded his first major league hit in his second game in his second game. Santana's first major league home run to right field in the fifth inning in his next at-bat.

Santana was hospitalized in a game at Fenway Park on August 2, 2010 while defending home plate against Boston Red Sox baserunner Ryan Kalish. Kalish slid into his left knee while attempting to cut the ball from Santana's mitt, bending it to the side. Santana was unable to walk off the field and had to be removed on a cart. Santana had a high grade sprain of his LCL as well as a hyperextension of his left knee, according to tests. Santana's rookie season was marred by the injury.

On April 3, 2011, Santana launched a triple play against the Chicago White Sox with a diving catch off an Alexei Ramrez bunt. Santana defeated the Detroit Tigers 9-0 on April 29, 2011 in his first major league grand slam, a walk-off.

Santana finished 2011 in his first full season in the major leagues, with 27 home runs, breaking a club record for home runs smashed by a switch hitter, and playing 66 games at first base. He also hit 79 RBI, 35 doubles, and added 97 walks. He was one of four hitters to reach 25 home runs, 35 doubles, and 90 walks in 2011, including Miguel Cabrera, Prince Fielder, and Joey Votto.

Santana's five-year, $21 million deal came with a club option for the 2017 season on April 10, 2012. Santana was disqualified from the game due to dizziness in the eighth inning of a May 25 match against the Chicago White Sox. With a concussion, he was later put on a seven-day disabled list. Santana was hitting.221, five home runs, and 30 RBI in 69 games going into the All-Star break. Manny Acta shared the hopes the Indians had for their catcher but admitted he wasn't struck "the way we expected him to hit."

In a July 18 game versus the Tampa Bay Rays, Santana scored his first home run since May 15. He returned on a single and finished the game with a season-high four RBI, his first multi-RBI game since May 11. "I know Santana is relieved to have the monkey off his back." Acta remarked after the game that the power deficit had been weighing on him." In a September 23 game against the Kansas City Royals, Santana reached his highest point in his career with five RBI. In the game, he hit two home runs in his third multi-home run game and first of the season since April 8.

Santana and Yan Gomes split the catching duties almost evenly in 2013, with Santana seeing a lot of time at first base and designated hitter when Gomes was catching. Santana saw less time at catcher as a result of Gomes' defensive prowess.

Santana debuted in 2014 as primarily third base, a position he hadn't played since single-A, with some time at catcher. He played exclusively at first base for the remainder of the season and into 2015. He spent seven days on the 7-day concussion DL in early June. He made a career-high 113 walks in 2014, while still playing in the major leagues, and finished tenth in the AL with 241 times on base. Lance Berkman, the first switch hitter in the same season, hit at least 25 home runs with 100 walks in the same season, and the fifth Indian switch hitter did accordingly.

Santana played his 150th home run on September 21, 2016, against the Kansas City Royals. Santana batted.259, 34 home runs, 87 RBI, and 85 percent OPS during the regular season. When batting left handed, he had 30 home runs and 68 RBI. In the 2016 American League Championship Series, Santana defeated the Toronto Blue Jays twice. He made the final out of the Series by catching a Troy Tulowitzki pop-up in foul territory, sending the Indians to the World Series. In seven games, the Chicago Cubs defeated Cleveland in the World Series. The Indians used their $12 million option for 2017.

Edwin Encarnacion was the team's designated hitter before the 2017 season, and Santana was primarily first base. He hit.238 with 10 home runs in the first 84 games of the season. The club won an American League match in August and September, with Santana winning.365/.689 during the stretch. By that time in the second half of the season, he had hit 13 home runs and 313/.596. In his 585th run against the Baltimore Orioles, he led the Indians to their fifth title, beating Omar Vizquel as the Indians' career RBI leader among switch hitters. Overall, he batted.259/.445, 112 OPS+, 90 runs scored, 23 home runs, 88 BB, 94 strikeouts, and five stolen bases.

Santana finished fourth in walks and seventh on base, in total time (242). With notable improvement on defense, he led AL first basemen in total zone runs (13) and assists (95), was second in double plays (129), fifth in putouts (1,055), and fifth in fielding percentage (.996). The Indians won an AL-best 102 games for the regular season but were eliminated in the ALDS by the wild-card-card-obaming New York Yankees. Wilson Defensive Player of the Year Award at first base, given to the top defensive player in the major leagues at each position, he received his first Wilson Defensive Player of the Year Award for his first season. At first base, he was also a finalist for the American League Rawlings Gold Glove Award.

Santana applied for a free agency on November 2, 2017. He committed to a three-year deal with the Philadelphia Phillies on December 20, which also included a team option for the 2021 season. The three years of guaranteeing were worth $60 million. Santana won by three runs at Citizens Bank Park on April 7, 2018, marking his 1,000th appearance in his career. He batted.229 and had the lowest batting average on balls in play (.231) of all major league players, and ranked second in the major leagues in walks per strikeout (1.18). He finished second in National League in walks (110), had 24 home runs, 86 RBI, and scored 82 runs, finishing second.

In March 2019, ESPN.com announced that Santana, who was frustrated with the team's nonchalance amid a long losing streak, destroyed a television with a bat in the team's clubhouse at Citizens Bank Park because teammates had been using it to play Fortnite during games.

The Philadelphia Phillies traded Santana and J. P. Crawford to the Seattle Mariners for Jean Segura, Juan Nicasio, and James Pazos on December 3, 2018. The Mariners sold Santana with cash to the Indians ten days later, and the Mariners delivered Encarnación and a competitive balance draft draft to the Mariners, Yandy D'az and Cole Sulser to the Tampa Bay Rays, and the Rays traded Jake Bauers to Cleveland in a three-team trade.

On April 28, 2019, Santana defeated Wade Miley of the Houston Astros in his 200th home run of his career. Santana was named the starting first baseman for the American League by fan voting in his first MLB All-Star Game. He and the Indians were the event's hosts, and he was able to do cleanup. Santana also participated in the Home Run Derby. He tied the Indians and Twins for first place after a 7-3 draw on August 11 versus the Minnesota Twins. Santana defeated the Boston Red Sox 6–5, on a walk-off home run at Progressive Field, allowing the Indians to regain sole possession of first place in the AL Central for the first time since April. Santana homered five times in the seventh inning or later to put the Indians up.

Santana batted.199/.349/.350 in 60 games, leading the American League in walks with 47 runs. On October 30, 2020, the Indians dropped their club option on Santana's 2021-2021 contract, making Santana a free agent.

Santana signed a two-year, $17.5 million contract with the Kansas City Royals on December 8, 2020. He was called into the Royals' lineup at first base right away; no player had started more than 55% of the team's games in a season at first base since Eric Hosmer left the team in a season starting in 2017. During the 2021 season, Santana made 136 starts at first base, and he finished with a.319/.342 record in 158 games overall, with 19 HR and 69 RBI for a career-low OPS+ of 80. His wRC+ of 83 was his seventh-best in the league among qualified hitters, but it was better than two of his Royals teammates. His 86 walks were good for sixth in the American League, and he did miss a portion of the season due to a leg injury, but he was never put on the injured list.

Santana was the Royals' first baseman until the 2022 season. At the time of his transfer away from the team, the Royals were 26-45, and Santana was hitting.316/.349/.341 in 52 games, but his OPS+ was at 98.

The Royals traded Santana to the Mariners for pitcher Wyatt Mills and minor-leaguer William Fleming on June 27, 2022.

International career

In 2013 and 2017, Santana played for the Dominican Republic national team at the World Baseball Classic. They won the gold medal for the 2013 championship, beating Puerto Rico 3–0 in the final. He appeared in the MLB Japan All-Star Series for the United States in the 2014 and 2018 editions.

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