Carlos Santana helps lead Indians to AL Central Title
The Guitar is now 30 years old and has hit 151 home runs while walking over six hundred times.
In 2016 the Indians decided to take advantage of his patience and moved him to the lead off spot. Santana started 85 games from the leadoff spot and rewarded the Indians with a .385 OBP in those 85 games, and a .886 OPS. This was the first time he had ever hit lead off in his major league career.
His combination of patience and power has always set him a tad apart from his contemporaries, and as this play index shows, his skill set is usually reserved for the elite.
Player | HR | BB | OPS | Age | Years |
Albert Pujols | 408 | 914 | 1.050 | 21-30 | 2001-2010 |
Lance Berkman | 221 | 678 | 0.990 | 24-30 | 2000-2006 |
Alex Rodriguez | 316 | 610 | 0.985 | 24-30 | 2000-2006 |
Miguel Cabrera | 365 | 799 | 0.967 | 20-30 | 2003-2013 |
Joey Votto | 163 | 611 | 0.950 | 23-30 | 2007-2014 |
Mark Teixeira | 275 | 616 | 0.913 | 23-30 | 2003-2010 |
Prince Fielder | 288 | 751 | 0.910 | 21-30 | 2005-2014 |
Adam Dunn | 354 | 990 | 0.902 | 21-30 | 2001-2010 |
David Wright | 222 | 671 | 0.888 | 21-30 | 2004-2013 |
Troy Glaus | 247 | 615 | 0.882 | 23-30 | 2000-2007 |
Andrew McCutchen | 175 | 612 | 0.869 | 22-29 | 2009-2016 |
Pat Burrell | 218 | 683 | 0.849 | 23-30 | 2000-2007 |
Carlos Santana | 151 | 638 | 0.809 | 24-30 | 2010-2016 |
He’s clearly the worst hitter of this group, but he made the club. He and Lance Berkman are the only two switch-hitters in the group.
Carlos was primarily a DH this year after playing 406 games at 1st, 330 games at catcher, 26 at 3rd, and one in LF over the course of his fine career.
Carlos has been an Indian so long now that he is in the top five of just about every Indian offensive category this century.
- 2nd in home runs (151)
- 3rd in runs scored (483)
- 5th in doubles (199)
- 3rd in RBI (508)
- 1st in walks (638)
- 4th in bWAR at 21.2
- 4th in OPS+ (122) minimum 1500 Plate Appearances
His bat will play at DH just fine thank you.
- Posted in: Baseball Notes ♦ Uncategorized
- Tagged: Carlos Santana