What has Carlos Santana brought to the Brewers? Power and an important presence.
ARLINGTON, Texas – The Milwaukee Brewers had a good idea of what they were acquiring when they traded minor-league prospect Jhonny Severino to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Carlos Santana on July 27.
Namely, a power threat from both sides of the plate and an above-average glove at first base.
Through 20 games with his new team, the 37-year-old has delivered as expected.
While his .181 average certainly could use improvement, the six home runs he’s hit lead the Brewers and his 13 runs batted in are tied for second. And two fielding miscues aside, Santana has more than held his own on the right side of an infield also manned by rookie second baseman Brice Turang.
He’s also made his mark in a much less quantifiable – yet still very important – area.
Namely, the clubhouse presence of someone like the 14-year veteran Santana.
“Just his presence,” said Wade Miley, himself a 13-year veteran, when asked what stands out most about Santana. “Since he’s been here, he’s very professional. Did not know him at all other than playing against him before he got here. His presence has been unbelievable.
“To play as long as he’s played and had the career that he’s had, guys look up to him.”
Brewers see Carlos Santana as a leader, role model
Willy Adames, in his sixth year in the major leagues, echoed Miley’s sentiments.
“He’s a veteran. He’s been around for a long time,” he said. “He’s been up and down, he’s been in the postseason. He knows the game. He brings that veteran face to the team and tries to help the young guys to be better and know how to handle themselves better.”
Andruw Monasterio, one of six rookies on the 26-man roster, speaks in awe of Santana.
“He’s a guy that you see, like, as a role model,” he said. “Like, ‘I want to be like him one day.’ All those numbers and all that experience he has is incredible.”
No question, Santana has already made his mark on a team eager to return to the postseason.
“I think that was a little bit of a part of the strategy at the trade deadline, was to add solid people,” said manager Craig Counsell. “And I think between Carlos, Mark (Canha) and Andrew (Chafin), that’s what we accomplished. A guy like Carlos walks into the clubhouse with his experience, you just trust it. That’s the big thing. Everybody trusts it.
“He hasn’t gotten off to maybe the ideal start, but I think because of what he’s accomplished, you trust it. And that’s important. There are days when we’re starting four rookies in the position-player group. So, experience like Carlos’ matters for us and is important for us, and that presence not only on the field but off the field in the clubhouse is important.”
Santana, a native of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, exudes a quiet confidence from whatever spot in the clubhouse he’s occupying at the time while also employing an open-door policy for teammates who want to pick his brain.
“I’m a great communicator with everybody. That’s my personality,” Santana said. “I try to help. I talk to everybody and try to be a good leader in the clubhouse. A leader in general.
“When I was younger, I would follow. Now I’m the veteran, and they follow me. Good attitude, positive and everything.”
Carlos Santana contribued for the Brewers in each game against the Rangers
A pre-game routine during the Brewers’ just-completed sweep of the Texas Rangers at Globe Life Field saw Santana first sipping on some of his home-brewed coffee out of a plastic shot glass while speaking with media, then listening to music on his headphones before making his way out to the dugout, where he meticulously applied grips to his bats prior to batting practice.
It was a picture of a true craftsman, totally in control of his surroundings while getting ready for another game.
Santana made his presence felt in against the Rangers by slugging a three-run homer in the opener, a solo shot in the second game and then driving in an insurance run with a single late in the finale.
The two homers upped his season total to 18, leaving him on pace to hit 20 or more for the first time since his only all-star appearance in 2019.
Santana has 296 homers, ranking him 10th all-time among switch-hitters and 13th among active players.
Santana also ranks seventh in games played (1,898) and plate appearances with (8,047) and 10th with 991 RBI after a 10-year run with Cleveland – with whom he first broke into the majors and helped develop him into a difference-maker – as well as stints with Philadelphia, Kansas City, Seattle, Pittsburgh and now Milwaukee.
“He loves baseball. It’s always baseball,” Miley said. “Hitting. He’s really in tune with his swing. It’s crazy.”
Counsell, who certainly can relate to Santana’s longevity with 1,624 games as a player and 1,295 as a manager, more or less looks at his new charge as the ultimate competitor.
“Carlos has earned a great reputation in the game, and it’s really by simply just coming to the park every day and, ‘I want to play.’ That sounds like it’s easy to do; at 37, that’s not common,” he said. “That attitude of, ‘I’m going to work every day, this is an important game and I’m here to win,’ is a positive message and an important message that is sent to all players.”
Carlos Santana brings playoff experience to the Brewers
Acquired with the stretch run in mind, Santana brings 28 games of postseason experience as well. Seven of those came in the memorable 2016 World Series, one in which his Cleveland squad fell just short against the Chicago Cubs.
He played two wild-card games with Cleveland in 2020, then last season, after being traded to the Mariners by the moribund Royals at the deadline, he racked up five more games in Seattle’s memorable return to the playoffs for the first time since 2001.
Santana certainly had no postseason aspirations with the Pirates after their hot start fizzled earlier this season.
Now, however, he’s eager to help the Brewers get back after their unexpected hiatus in 2022.
“Every year my mentality is making the playoffs, and I want to win the World Series. That’s why I push a lot, why I play hard every day,” he said. “We have a great team. I try to put everybody in the mindset of winning and taking one day at a time. Baseball is up and down. We have a month and a half left in the season and my experience tells me to finish strong.
“Finish strong and try to make the playoffs and win the World Series.”
Could Carlos Santana return to the Brewers in 2024?
With Milwaukee’s first-base situation seemingly in flux again with Rowdy Tellez failing to follow up on his career 2022 season, would it make sense to try and bring Santana back again at age 38?
He’s playing this year on a $6.725 million contract, makes his home relatively close in Cleveland and, it would seem, still has some good years of baseball left in him considering the shape he keeps himself in and the fact he’s been relatively healthy over the course of his career.
Looking at his peripherals, Santana is below average in a number of key hitting categories, with his average exit velocity and hard-hit percentage at career-lows 89.1 mph (45th percentile in the majors) and 36.3% (25th percentile).
His eye is still outstanding (79th percentile strikeouts, 75th percentile walk, 73rd percentile chase and 64% whiff) and his four outs above average tie him for fourth with St. Louis’s Paul Goldschmidt among all first basemen (87th percentile).
Santana is already on record as saying he’d definitely entertain a return to Pittsburgh.
But he certainly seems to be enjoying his time in Milwaukee.
And if the Brewers can somehow make a postseason run…
“I feel good. I’m working hard on my body to prepare to be healthy every day and be ready every day, so I can play hard,” Santana said when asked about the future. “Honestly, I don’t think about what’s going on in my future. I think about today.”
Spoken like a true veteran.
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Carlos Santana brings home runs, leadership, presence to Brewers
