Indians catcher Carlos Santana offered the world a glimpse of his immense power potential last season when he slugged six home runs in 150 at-bats before straining a ligament in his left knee during an ugly early-August collision at home plate.
Now healthy and a full-time major leaguer, the 25-year-old Dominican continues to impress.
Santana launched his 25th home run of the season in Saturday afternoon’s 10-4 defeat of the Twins. It was his fourth homer in the Indians’ past five games and helped him tie a franchise record for the most big flies by a switch-hitter in a single season. Victor Martinez, now with the Tigers, went deep 25 times for Cleveland back in 2007.
Santana is batting .239/.352/.457 with 122 hits, 75 RBI and 74 runs scored through 143 games this season. He has quickly rounded into the type of player that many prospect evaluators guessed he would become.