Carlos Santana has been turning the clock back for the Guardians

On June 11, 2010, Carlo Santana made his MLB debut for the then-Cleveland Indians, and smashed a double double and home run in his next game. 

His tenure with Cleveland’s baseball team has gone on quite a ride since. 

He was a lineup mainstay for eight years, complete with a Wild Card berth in 2013 and a ride to the World Series that came with an ALCS-clinching catch. 

Then, after a season in Philadelphia, he came with an All-Star season in 2019 and a shortened 2020.

That looked like it would end up being his final season at the corner of Carnegie and Ontario, as he spent three seasons as a baseball nomad playing for five franchises in three seasons. 

But he came back home this offseason and signed a one-year, $12 million contract with the Guardians the day after the team traded Josh Naylor to the Diamondbacks. 

That decision has looked like a huge win so far this season due to Santana’s late-career renaissance.

Carlos Santana has been turning the clock back for the Guardians

All of this comes with the caveat that Santana wasn’t a slouch last year. Despite being 39-years-old, Santana hit .238 with 23 home runs (marking the second straight season he tallied 23 homers) and won his first career Gold Glove. It was also the first time since 2021 that he spent an entire season with one club. 

And while the loss of Naylor surprised and (and honestly hurt) a good segment of the Guardians’ fanbase, Santana’s spent the start of the season showing that he can still hold his own at first base. 

After a 1-for-3 performance on Sunday, Santana’s now hitting .262 (which would be his highest single-season batting average since 2013) to go along with seven home runs and 29 RBI. 

He’s also in the midst of an 11-game hit streak where he’s gone 10-fir-47 (.440) with three home runs and eight RBI. 

While Santana’s advanced stats aren’t incredible (he’s only in the fifth percentile in sweet-spot rate and the 14th percentile in expected batting average), he’s 90th percentile in walk rate and the 92nd percentile in Outs Above Average. 

He’s been the model of consistency at first base so far this season.

And, whether it’s fair or not, Santana’s season will be viewed in the prism of Naylor’s season. 

And right now, the comparisons aren’t horrible. 

While Naylor is younger (27), he’s making nearly as much as Santana (he settled with Arizona at $10.9 million to avoid his last year of arbitration) and will be a free agent after the year. 

He’s slashing .297/.355/.464 this year with seven home runs and 37 RBI and has been worth 0.8 bWAR; Santana’s been worth 1.5. 

Yes, Naylor had plenty of signature moments in his time with the Guardians and was a fan favorite coming off an All-Star year, but the Guardians took a gamble to try to replace him in aggregate with Santana. 

And so far, it’s worked. 

The Guardians are known for making moves that strike the fanbase right in the heart (Aaron Civale, anyone), but they’ve also found a lot of success in those moves. 

Their decision to go with Santana at first base is a is looking like another solid move.