Carlos Santana

BIOGRAPHY

Carlos Santana was born April 8, 1986, in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. He is a first baseman and DH in the MLB.

After the Indians acquired Edwin Encarnación in free agency prior to the 2017 season, he took over as the team's designated hitter, and Santana played primarily first base. During the first 84 games of the season, he hit .238 with 10 home runs. In August and September, the club won an American League-record 22 games in a row, and Santana hit .365/.484/.689 during the streak. He had hit 13 home runs and 313/.429/.596 through that point in the second half of the season. On September 10 versus the Baltimore Orioles, he drove in his 585th run, passing Omar Vizquel as the Indians' career RBI leader among switch hitters. Overall in 2017, he batted .259/.363/.445, 112 OPS+, 90 runs scored, 23 home runs, 79 RBI, 88 BB, 94 strikeouts, and five stolen bases.

Santana placed fourth in the AL in walks and seventh in times on base (242). With significant improvement on defense, he led AL first basemen in total zone runs (13) and assists (95), was second in double plays (129), fourth in putouts (1,055), and fifth in fielding percentage (.996). The Indians won an AL-best 102 games for the regular season, but were defeated by the wild-card qualifying New York Yankees in the ALDS. He won his first career Wilson Defensive Player of the Year Award at first base, given to the top defensive player in the major leagues at each position. He was also named a finalist for the American League Rawlings Gold Glove Award at first base.

Santana hit the 200th home run of his career on April 28, 2019, versus Wade Miley of the Houston Astros. Selected by fan voting in 2019 to his first career MLB All-Star Game, Santana was named the starting first baseman for the American League. He and Indians were hosts for the event played at Progressive Field and he batted cleanup. Santana also competed in the Home Run Derby. On August 11 versus the Minnesota Twins, he hit a game-winning grand slam in a 7–3 outcome to tie the Indians and Twins for first place. The following night, Santana hit a walk-off home run at Progressive Field to defeat the Boston Red Sox, 6–5, that allowed the Indians to reclaim sole possession of first place in the AL Central for the first time since the previous April. Through August 15, Santana homered five-time times in the seventh inning or later to give the Indians a lead.

On December 8, 2020, Santana signed a 2-year, $17.5 million contract with the Kansas City Royals. 

On June 27, 2022, the Royals traded Santana to the Mariners for pitcher Wyatt Mills and minor-leaguer William Fleming.

On November 29, 2022, Santana signed a one year deal with the Pittsburgh Pirates. On June 30, 2023, in a game against the Milwaukee Brewers, Santana hit a walk off two run home run into the Allegheny River to win it 8-7. It was the 69th home run hit into the Allegheny River in the history of PNC Park and the first walkoff home run of Santana's career. 

Santana was traded to the Milwaukee Brewers in July of 2023.

Santana represented the Dominican Republic national team at the World Baseball Classic in 2013 and 2017. They won the gold medal for the 2013 championship, defeating Puerto Rico 3–0 in the final. In the MLB Japan All-Star Series, he played for the United States in the 2014 and 2018 editions.