Minor-ity Report: Highlight on Carlos Santana

June 25, 2009

We are talking about the Cleveland Indians catching prospect,  not the famous guitarist.  At 5′11 and 170 lbs, Santana is a dimunitive target for Cleveland’s  double A affiliate, Akron, but he packs a punch at the plate.  The former non-drafted free-agent began his professional career in 2005 at age 19 as a third baseman and outfielder.  That season, Carlos Santana hit an unimpressive one long-ball in 78 at bats.  His .295 average that ‘05 season was serviceable, but what was prescient of his already present plate patience were his ratio of walks to whiffs – 16/8.  That’s right, twice as many free passes as strikeouts for a 19 year old in rookie ball.  Not too bad after all.

What would follow for Carlos Santana might fit into the ”coming of age story” genre.  In ‘06 and predominantly patrolling the outfield for Ogden in the Pioneer League, Santana belted 7 homers and batted .303 in just 132 at bats (.938 OPS).  Again, Carlos Santana boasted a moneyball-friendly 30:19 BB:K ratio. All that was good enough to earn Santana a promotion to high A ball, where he promptly faded to the tune of 3 homers and a .268 average while whiffing more than walking for the first time in his pro career, all in nearly 200 at bats. After that 2006 setback in the Florida State League, Cleveland returned Santana to catching and to the Midwest League, where, again, he was unimpressive in 2007. 

Two seasons of toil and mediocrity served as something of a wakeup call for the young Carlos Santana, who responded to criticism about his offensive play by taking a giant leap forward in 2008.  How big was that leap?  Santana belted 6 homers and batted .352 in the Carolina League before getting promoted to the California League.  There, Carlos Santana smacked a career-high 14 homers, 96 RBI, 34 doubles, and posted a tidy .323 average.  With little left of the season, Cleveland again bumped Santana up, only this time, to double A where he had only 8 at bats.  But the die was cast, and Santana’s 2008 statistical line read .326, 21 homers, 117 RBI, 10 steals, and 39 doubles (oh, and his walk to strikeout ratio returned to better than 1:1).  His .999 OPS was the highest of his professional career, and Carlos Santana had catapulted to the top of Cleveland’s top prospects list.

Having finally flexed his muscles at the plate in 2008, Santana faced the formidable task of besting his best performance.   Santana has certainly begun the 2009 season on pace to exceed even last year’s totals, already knocking 10 homers, 43 RBI, and a .276 average to go with 15 doubles and a .939 OPS (in 192 at bats).  What comes next for Cleveland’s double A backstop? 

The Tribe has Victor Martinez behind the plate splitting his time at first base too to make room for young masher Kelly Shoppach, thought to be VMart’s heir behind the dish.  So, what will become of catcher-of-the-future Carlos Santana?  Hard to say at this point. But from a practical standpoint, Santana’s plate patience, ability to switch-hit, and athleticism make him a candidate to push Shoppach to DH and Hafner out of town, altogether.  He could be dealt also, but either way, his ETA should be around 2010.  Astute Fantasy GM’s would be wise to keep a watchful eye on Carlos Santana.

Written by Russell Sandman · Filed Under Articles | 2 Comments