Domingo Santana

Domingo Santana
Santana with the Tokyo Yakult Swallows
Tokyo Yakult Swallows – No. 25
Outfielder
Born: (1992-08-05) August 5, 1992 (age 32)
Santo Domingo, Distrito Nacional, Dominican Republic
Bats: Right
Throws: Right
Professional debut
MLB: July 1, 2014, for the Houston Astros
NPB: April 24, 2021, for the Tokyo Yakult Swallows
MLB statistics
(through 2020 season)
Batting average.255
Home runs77
Runs batted in244
NPB statistics
(through 2024 season)
Batting average.299
Home runs69
Runs batted in233
Stats at Baseball Reference Edit this at Wikidata
Teams
Career highlights and awards
NPB

Domingo Alberto Santana (born August 5, 1992) is a Dominican professional baseball outfielder for the Tokyo Yakult Swallows of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). He has previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Houston Astros, Milwaukee Brewers, Seattle Mariners, and Cleveland Indians.

Career

Philadelphia Phillies

Santana signed as an international free agent with the Philadelphia Phillies in March 2009, receiving a $330,000 signing bonus.[1] He made his professional debut with the GCL Phillies, slashing .288/.388/.508 in 37 games. The next year, he split the season between the Low-A Williamsport Crosscutters and the Single-A Lakewood BlueClaws, batting a cumulative .211/.329/.333 with 8 home runs and 36 RBI. In 2011, Santana was assigned to Lakewood to begin the year, and hit .269/.345/.434 with 7 home runs and 32 RBI in 96 games for the club.[2]

Houston Astros

The Phillies traded Santana to the Houston Astros on July 31, 2011, with Jon Singleton, Jarred Cosart, and Josh Zeid, in exchange for Hunter Pence.[3][4] He finished the year with the Single-A Lexington Legends, hitting .382/.447/.662 with 5 home runs and 21 RBI in 17 contests. In 2012, Santana played for the High-A Lancaster JetHawks, batting .302/.385/.536 with career-highs in home runs (23) and RBI (97). He spent the 2013 season with the Double-A Corpus Christi Hooks, posting a .252/.345/.498 slash line with a career-high 25 home runs and 64 RBI. He was added to the 40-man roster on November 20, 2013.[5] He was assigned to Triple-A to begin the 2014 season.

Santana batting for the Oklahoma City RedHawks in 2014

The Astros promoted Santana to the major leagues from the Oklahoma City RedHawks of the Triple-A Pacific Coast League (PCL) on July 1, 2014.[6] He debuted the same day, going 0-for-4 with three strikeouts.[7] After batting 0-for-13 with 11 strikeouts, the Astros demoted Santana to Oklahoma City on July 6.[8]

Santana with the Houston Astros in 2014

On March 13, 2015, Santana was optioned to the Fresno Grizzlies of the PCL. He was recalled on June 16. That same day, he collected his first major league hit on an RBI single to right that scored Evan Gattis.[9]

Milwaukee Brewers

On July 30, 2015, the Astros traded Santana, Brett Phillips, Josh Hader, and Adrian Houser to the Milwaukee Brewers for Carlos Gómez and Mike Fiers.[10] The Brewers assigned Santana to the Colorado Springs Sky Sox of the PCL, and promoted him to the major leagues on August 21.[11] He missed most of the 2016 season with a shoulder and an elbow injury.[12]

In spring training of 2017, Santana competed for the starting right field job, ultimately winning the job. On July 26, 2017, Santana hit the longest home run in the history of Nationals Park, a 475-foot (145 m) shot which landed on the concourse behind the left field stands. Santana continued as the starting right fielder for the remainder of the season, finishing with 30 home runs and 85 RBIs in 151 games.[citation needed]

Before the 2018 season, the Brewers acquired Christian Yelich and Lorenzo Cain, leaving Santana to serve as a bench player for the beginning of the season.[13] Through 189 at bats, he was hitting .249 with three home runs and 17 RBIs off the bench before being demoted to Colorado Springs on June 23.[14] He batted .283 with eight home runs in 55 games for the Sky Sox. The Brewers recalled Santana on September 1.[15] As a pinch hitter, Santana batted 9-for-22 (.409) in the final month of the season.[16]

Seattle Mariners

On December 21, 2018, the Brewers traded Santana to the Seattle Mariners for Ben Gamel and Noah Zavolas.[17] In the Mariners season opener in Japan on March 20, Santana hit a grand slam to help lift the Mariners to the win over the Athletics. [18]

In 2019 he batted .253/.329/.441.[19] He had the highest strikeout percentage in the major leagues (32.3%).[20] In 2019, on defense he led all major league outfielders in errors, with 9.[21] On December 2, 2019, Santana was non-tendered by Seattle and became a free agent.[22]

Cleveland Indians

On February 14, 2020, Santana was signed to a one-year contract with the Cleveland Indians, with a club option for the 2021 season.[23] Santana was designated for assignment by the Indians on August 31, after he struggled to a .157/.298/.286 slash line with two home runs and 12 RBI in 24 games.[24] After clearing waivers, Santana was outrighted to the Indians' alternate training site on September 4. The Indians declined their club option on Santana's contract for the 2021 season on October 30, making Santana a free agent.[25]

Tokyo Yakult Swallows

On December 2, 2020, Santana signed with the Tokyo Yakult Swallows of Nippon Professional Baseball.[26] On April 24, 2021, Santana made his NPB debut.

On November 2, 2022, Santana re-signed with the Swallows for the 2023 season.

On November 28, 2023, Santana re-signed with the Swallows for the 2024 season on one-year contract worth $2.45 million. [27]

Personal life

Santana's father played in the Houston Astros organization.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b "Five minutes with Domingo Santana - Philly.com". Articles.philly.com. April 19, 2011. Archived from the original on December 18, 2013. Retrieved December 14, 2013.
  2. ^ "Domingo Santana Minor, Winter & Japanese Leagues Statistics & History".
  3. ^ "Phillies acquire Hunter Pence". ESPN. July 31, 2011. Retrieved January 11, 2013.
  4. ^ Mayo, Jonathan (July 30, 2011). "Astros land two top prospects, intriguing arm". Houston.astros.mlb.com. Archived from the original on October 29, 2013. Retrieved January 11, 2013.
  5. ^ "Astros add Cruz, Santana, Wojciechowski to 40-man". Houston.astros.mlb.com. November 21, 2013. Archived from the original on December 14, 2013. Retrieved December 14, 2013.
  6. ^ McTaggert, Brian (July 1, 2014). "Astros recall trio of Triple-A prospects". MLB.com. Retrieved July 3, 2014.
  7. ^ McTaggert, Brian; Vernon, Mike (July 2, 2014). "After being called up, Santana makes first start". MLB.com. Archived from the original on July 14, 2014. Retrieved July 3, 2014.
  8. ^ "Astros demote struggling Santana". Houston Chronicle. July 6, 2014. Retrieved July 30, 2015.
  9. ^ "Colorado Rockies vs. Houston Astros - Play By Play - June 16, 2015 - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved July 30, 2015.
  10. ^ "Carlos Gomez, Mike Fiers traded to Houston Astros for prospects". ESPN.com. July 30, 2015. Retrieved July 30, 2015.
  11. ^ Haudricourt, Tom (August 21, 2015). "Domingo Santana excited about opportunity". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Retrieved August 21, 2015.
  12. ^ "Brewers by position: Domingo Santana flashes potential in right". Jsonline.com. February 22, 2017. Retrieved December 22, 2018.
  13. ^ McCalvy, Adam (May 24, 2018). "Brewers add Christian Yelich, Lorenzo Cain". MLB.com. Retrieved December 22, 2018.
  14. ^ "Milwaukee Brewers recall Brad Miller, send down struggling Domingo Santana". Espn.com. June 23, 2018. Retrieved December 22, 2018.
  15. ^ FOX Sports Wisconsin (September 1, 2018). "OF Santana, C Nottingham among five Brewers call-ups". FOX Sports. Retrieved December 22, 2018.
  16. ^ Johns, Greg (May 24, 2018). "Mariners get Domingo Santana for Ben Gamel". MLB.com. Retrieved December 22, 2018.
  17. ^ "Mariners acquire outfielder Domingo Santana from the Brewers". The Seattle Times. October 16, 2018. Retrieved December 22, 2018.
  18. ^ "Domingo Santana hits grand slam in Tokyo". MLB.com. Retrieved April 10, 2019.
  19. ^ "Domingo Santana Stats". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved October 7, 2019.
  20. ^ "Major League Leaderboards » 2019 » Batters » Advanced Statistics | FanGraphs Baseball". Fangraphs.com. January 1, 2019. Retrieved October 7, 2019.
  21. ^ "2019 Major League Baseball Fielding Leaders". Baseball-Reference.com. January 1, 1970. Retrieved October 7, 2019.
  22. ^ "Mariners tender contracts to 31 players on MLB roster". MLB.com. December 2, 2019. Retrieved December 2, 2019.
  23. ^ "Indians sign OF Domingo Santana; RHP Mike Clevinger medical update". Indians.com. February 14, 2020.
  24. ^ "Indians Designate Domingo Santana". August 31, 2020.
  25. ^ Bell, Mandy (October 30, 2020). "Indians pick up Pérez's option but decline 3". Indians.com.
  26. ^ "Domingo Santana to Sign with Japan's Yakult Swallows". December 2, 2020.
  27. ^ https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/5270fa978ab9735113eee234f04ce159726729e5?source=sns&dv=pc&mid=other&date=20231128&ctg=spo&bt=tw_up[permanent dead link‍] [bare URL]
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