2010 Fantasy Baseball Call Ups
Carlos Santana – Catcher
Editors Note: Whoops…wrong Carlos Santana Bobblehead!
Fantasy owners take note - We all may have to wait a year or two for a Cleveland IndiansCarlos Santana Bobblehead. But the Tribes future star catcher prospect, who shares the name of the legendary guitarist, musician may not have as long as you think before he sees Progressive Field.
Everyone appears to believe that Lou Marson will be the starting catcher in Cleveland the first week of April. I for one, am also in belief that that is the most probable case at press er…post time. However, I’ve seen Lou Marson play, have watched his development closely and believe that the Phillies got rid of this kid knowing that it just wasn’t going to work out for him in the long run.
Bring to the mix Mr. Carlos Santana and his keen eye at the dish, and his patient approach. Take into consideration his overlooked ability to drive in the big run, ice water running through his veins.
These are qualities that Tribe fans are used to from their catching position as Santana will be as close of a prototype to Victor Martinez as they will be able to find. We are all aware that the catching position is arguably the toughest to transition in baseball. While pitchers may tend to disagree, I strongly feel that in the first year or two of a catcher making it to the “bigs”, hitting becomes the second most important part of the players’ game.
The good thing about young Carlos Santana, is that he is confident of his defense and full of pride in his ability to call a game that he may be more mentally prepared than most in making the leap to the show. Throw in the fact that the Indians pitching staff (outside of 32-year old Jake Westbrook) are no older than 26-years of age removes some of the friction that can come about from a veteran rebellion when throwing to a calming 23-year old catcher that is in control of the flow of the game.
Carlos Santana has never had a professional season where he has finished with more strikeouts than walks and has a career OBP of .395, not many catchers can say that. (not even the ever popular V-Mart) Yes, I am aware that this has been toiling in nothing higher than Double-A ball, and I am aware that this doesn’t always translate; however, one thing about good hitters is the fact that they find a way to hit at all levels and this Dominican import has a great track record that should translate into major league success.
