Guardians' Carlos Santana: Belts second homer of 2025
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Santana went 1-for-4 with a solo home run in Wednesday's 3-2 win over the White Sox.
Santana took Sean Burke deep to center field for a 410-foot solo home run, which turned out to be the deciding run in Wednesday's game. Santana is off to a good start in 2025, and over his last eight outings he's gone 10-for-30 with three walks, four runs, two home runs and three RBI.
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Guardians' Carlos Santana: Slugs first long ball
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Santana went 2-for-3 with a solo home run, an additional run, an additional RBI and a walk against the Angels in Saturday's 10-4 loss.
Santana knocked in half of Cleveland's runs in the contest, launching a solo homer to center field in the first inning and adding an RBI groundout in the third. The veteran first baseman has been a steady presence in the Guardians' lineup this season, as he's gotten at least one hit in six of his eight games and is slashing a sturdy .290/.343/.452 through 35 plate appearances.
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Guardians' Carlos Santana: Playing every day
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Santana started at first base and went 2-for-4 with a double in Monday's 7-2 loss to San Diego.
Santana has started at first base and served as Cleveland's cleanup hitter for all four games thus far. He's hit safely in three of those four games, going 6-for-16 with two doubles, three runs scored and one RBI. The 38-year-old (turns 39 on April 8) is projected to have an everyday role for the Guardians.
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Guardians' Carlos Santana: Looking at everyday role
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Santana will likely occupy an everyday role to start the 2025 season, Anthony Castrovince of MLB.com reports. The soon-to-be 39-year-old is expected to serve as the primary first baseman.
Santana returned to Cleveland in the offseason and still is a productive hitter in the twilight of his career. He credited former big leaguer Nelson Cruz, who taught him how to age gracefully. "I don't feel 38," Santana said. "This is my No. 1 priority. I eat healthy, sleep well, I'm not doing alcohol, I have training, I have a chef." The Guardians have up-and-comer Kyle Manzardo in the pipeline, but Santana is viewed as the primary replacement for Josh Naylor's power bat at first base. Santana crushed lefties in 2024 (.286/.356/.578), but a repeat of his line against righties (.219/.318/.358) could eventually create a platoon situation.
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Guardians' Carlos Santana: Returning to Cleveland
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The Guardians signed Santana to a one-year, $12 million contract Saturday, Jeff Passan of ESPN.com reports.
Santana's signing came shortly after Cleveland traded Josh Naylor to Arizona for pitcher Slade Cecconi, so Santana appears set to take over as the starter at first base for the Guardians. The $12 million contract represents a nice pay raise for the veteran slugger, who joined Minnesota on a one-year, $5.25 million dollar deal last February and enjoyed a solid campaign with a .748 OPS -- his highest since 2019 -- while slugging 23 homers and notching 71 RBI over 594 plate appearances during the regular season. Santana is nearing the end of his career -- he'll turn 39 years old in April -- but should provide a decent amount of run production in the middle of Cleveland's lineup while serving as a bridge to the team's future.
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Carlos Santana: Wants to play 3-to-4 more seasons
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Santana's agent, Ulises Cabrera, said Monday that his client wants to play for 3-to-4 more seasons, Jon Morosi of MLB Network reports.
It seems unlikely that Santana will be able to hang around that much longer, considering he'll turn 39 in April. However, he's coming off a strong 2024 season, having slashed .238/.328/.420 with 23 home runs over 150 games for the Twins while winning his first-ever Gold Glove at first base.
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Twins' Carlos Santana: Homers, drives in three
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Santana went 3-for-4 on Sunday with a home run, two RBI and three runs scored against the Reds.
Santana homered and doubled to finish just a triple shy of the cycle. The 15-year-vet's two-run blast in the seventh doubled the Twins' lead and served as the springboard to a five-run inning that sealed the game. Santana is now batting 8-for-18 (.444) with two homers, a double, six RBI and six runs scored during a modest five-game hitting streak.
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Twins' Carlos Santana: Sitting Saturday
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Santana isn't in the Twins' lineup Saturday against Cincinnati.
Santana has put together a nice four-game hitting streak, during which he's gone 5-for-14 with a homer and three RBI, but he'll take a seat Saturday against Nick Martinez and the Reds. Jose Miranda will start at first base and bat eighth.
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Twins' Carlos Santana: Back in lineup Monday
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Santana (illness) is starting at first base and batting in the leadoff spot in Monday's series opener against the Angels.
Santana appears to be over the illness that forced him to exit Saturday's game against the Royals and sit for Sunday's series finale. Since the beginning of August, Santana has slashed .196/.304/.393 with six home runs and 12 RBI over 125 plate appearances.
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Twins' Carlos Santana: Sitting Sunday
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Santana (illness) is absent from Sunday's lineup against Kansas City.
Santana left in the fifth inning of Saturday's game due to an illness, and he will sit for the series finale Sunday. Jose Miranda will start at first base while Ryan Jeffers serves as the designated hitter.
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Twins' Carlos Santana: Leaves game due to illness
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Santana left Saturday's game against the Royals due to an illness, Dan Hayes of The Athletic reports.
Santana went 0-for-2 before exiting in the fifth inning of Saturday's contest. Kyle Farmer replaced Santana at first base.
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Twins' Carlos Santana: Belts homer No. 20
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Santana went 1-for-3 with two walks and a two-run home run in Wednesday's 9-4 loss to the Rays.
The veteran first baseman took Tyler Alexander deep in the seventh inning, giving Santana homers in back-to-back games. He's up to 20 long balls on the year, the ninth time in his career he's reached that mark, but as per usual he isn't doing much for fantasy GMs in batting average -- over 30 contests since the beginning of August, Santana's slashing .206/.322/.423.
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Twins' Carlos Santana: Another day off Monday
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Santana is absent from the lineup for Monday's game in Tampa Bay.
Santana was also out of the lineup for Sunday's win over the Blue Jays, although he received a couple plate appearances off the bench. The veteran switch hitter has gone 5-for-29 at the plate over his last nine contests, and the slump might be starting to cost him some playing time. Jose Miranda will pick up a second straight start at first base.
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Twins' Carlos Santana: Out of Sunday's lineup
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Santana is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Blue Jays, LaVelle E. Neal III of The Minnesota Star Tribune reports.
Santana started the previous six games and will receive a day off after going 1-for-19 with a double and a 4:6 BB:K during that stretch. Jose Miranda will take over at first base and bat second in the series finale versus Toronto.
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Twins' Carlos Santana: Slugs homer in loss
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Santana went 1-for-3 with a solo home run and a walk in Sunday's 6-5 extra-inning loss to the Rangers.
Santana has gone just 3-for-16 over his last five games, but all three of those hits have been homers. He tied the game at 5-5 in the ninth inning Sunday, though the Twins would fall in the 10th. Santana is up to a .241/.330/.432 slash line with 18 homers, 55 RBI, 48 runs scored, 22 doubles and four stolen bases through 115 contests in a near-everyday role this year.
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Twins' Carlos Santana: Swipes bag, drives in winning run
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Santana went 0-for-3 with a walk, an RBI and a stolen base in Thursday's win over the Rangers.
Santana walked in his third trip to the plate before swiping second base, giving him his fourth stolen base of the season. The first baseman then came through in the clutch, driving home Matt Wallner with a sacrifice fly in the ninth inning to put Minnesota on top. Santana has struggled at the dish in August, batting just .195 (8-for-41) with two homers, three RBI and eight runs scored. However, he's driven in a run in back-to-back games and has scored at least one run in three of his last four.
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Twins' Carlos Santana: Taking seat Sunday
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Santana is out of the lineup for Sunday's game versus the Guardians.
Santana started the previous six games but will sit Sunday after going 6-for-22 with a double and a homer during that span. Jose Miranda will receive a start at first base and bat sixth in the series finale versus Cleveland.
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Twins' Carlos Santana: Getting afternoon off
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Santana is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the White Sox.
Jose Miranda will get the starting nod at first base while Santana takes a seat for the first time since July 8. Santana went hitless in the first two games of the series, but he owns a respectable .734 OPS over his 13 starts since the All-Star break.
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Twins' Carlos Santana: Launches 14th homer
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Santana went 1-for-4 with a two-run home run and a walk in Saturday's 8-4 extra-innings loss to the Brewers.
Santana hit just .133 over his first nine games in July, but he's gone deep twice over his last three contests while going 3-for-9 in that span. The first baseman is up to a .244/.327/.434 slash line with 14 homers, 43 RBI, 36 runs scored, two stolen bases and 17 doubles through 90 games. Santana's always been fairly disciplined at the plate, but he's getting by on a 9.7 percent walk rate this year, the lowest of his career.
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Twins' Carlos Santana: Receiving breather Monday
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Santana is out of the lineup for Monday's game against the White Sox.
Jose Miranda will pick up the start at first base while Santana rests for the series opener in Chicago. Santana had started all three games of the Twins' weekend series with the Astros, going 3-for-11 with a double, a walk, a run and an RBI.
