Carlos

Santana

As Kyle Tucker returns, Santana loses his spot after going 2-for-19 in eight appearances for the Cubs, leaving him at .219/.308/.325 in 474 plate appearances this season. He could factor into the postseason mix if more injuries strike. Otherwise, he’ll head into free agency as a 40-year-old coming off the worst season of his career. He might have to take a minor league deal if he hopes to keep playing.

As expected, Tucker is going to sit out Wednesday’s series finale for some extra rest prior to Friday’s road tilt against the Nationals. The 28-year-old fantasy superstar made a precautionary exit from Tuesday’s contest with left calf tightness. Seiya Suzuki is heading out to right field with Carlos Santana taking over at DH in his place. He’ll be re-evaluated later this week to determine whether he’ll require a trip to the injured list.

He’ll get to keep his usual 41 jersey, as Michael Soroka has made the switch to 19. The Cubs now have the league’s two oldest active position players, with the 39-year-old Santana slotting in behind the 40-year-old Justin Turner there but probably ahead of Turner on the depth chart. He’ll likely get some starts at first base against lefties and serve as a pinch-hitter.

Santana makes plenty of sense for the Cubs as a complementary first base and DH option behind Michael Busch and Seiya Suzuki, while also providing an experienced bench bat for pinch-hitting situations. The 39-year-old on-base machine was cut loose by Cleveland after the emergence of Kyle Manzardo and C.J. Kayfus as everyday options. He’s unlikely to receive enough at-bats to be fantasy-relevant over the final month of the season.

Santana was placed on outright waivers, and unsurprisingly didn’t get claimed. The 39-year-old is now free to sign with a new team, and it’s plausible — but far from a guarantee — that the switch-hitting first baseman will see interest from a contender looking for a bench bat.

The outright waiver process is meant to be confidential, so there won’t be anything official from Cleveland for now. The 39-year-old veteran has ceded playing time to youngster Kyle Manzardo in recent weeks and the organization also has C.J. Kayfus on the big-league roster, who is capable of playing the cold corner. He’s had a down year offensively, but there might be a team out there willing to roll the dice as a bench bat for the postseason.

C.J. Kayfus sits as a result. Santana last homered on July 11 and has hit .215/.278/.246 during the second half. The Guardians might think it makes some sense to keep him involved while they’re still in contention, but the 39-year-old hasn’t aided the cause lately. Still, Santana, the league’s second oldest position player behind Justin Turner, has bounced back every other time he’s been written off in recent years after a slump.

Santana started the scoring with a two-run double in the first inning. He also had an RBI single in the third inning and a bases-loaded walk in the fourth inning. Santana is hitting just .230 with a .663 OPS in his age-39 season, but also has 51 RBI.

Manzardo takes a seat on Wednesday night with lefty Kyle Freeland toeing the rubber for Colorado at Progressive Field. The 25-year-old former top prospect slugged two homers during Tuesday’s lopsided win and has gone deep five times over his last 11 games. He’s also riding an eight-game hitting streak at the moment. It’ll be Carlos Santana at first base with David Fry occupying the DH spot to kick off Wednesday’s game.

Santana ambushed a first-pitch cutter from Tyler Alexander and crushed it for a 418-foot (109.3 mph EV) two-run shot to center that gave the Guardians a 4-2 lead they would never relinquish. He has had a rough time at the plate in his third tour with the Guardians, slashing .230/.325/.362 with 11 long balls and 40 RBI.