When Casey Blake was traded to the Dodgers last July, most fans had no idea who the prospects were the Indians received for their former grinder. John Meloan was one half of the deal, a hard throwing bullpen arm. The other has turned into the by most prospect publications the number 1 prospect in the organization; catcher Carlos Santana. Most fans have heard of Santana by now, as he got to play in a few games with the Tribe in Spring Training and has been heavily talked about and mentioned. Here is what some in baseball have to say about the "smooth" switch hitter...Comment from Ross Atkins, Indians director of player development: "Carlos is extremely gifted offensively. He has a lot of bat speed and he's disciplined. Defensively, he has above average skills when it comes to catching and throwing. He still needs to refine his receiving skills, his game calling ability and his ability to lead a pitching staff."
John Sickles of Minorleagueball.com: "...he's continued to produce power and terrific strike zone judgment while transitioning to Double-A.. I'm not sure he gets as much attention as he deserves: he's an excellent prospect, and will battle Buster Posey for "best catching prospect" plaudits once Matt Wieters graduates to the majors."
Mark Shapiro on catcher Carlos Santana's throwing ability: "He's as gifted throwing as any guy I've ever seen outside of Pudge [Ivan Rodriguez] early in his career."
Pretty high praise for the young 23 year old Dominican. He seems to be developing into a pretty good receiver, while showing a cannon for an arm. Santana's leadership behind the dish has help lead to success for Akron as through May 12th the team had posted a combined 2.81 ERA, with the starting staff of Hector Rondon (29 IP, 1.24 ERA), Frank Herrmann (30 1/3 IP, 2.97 ERA) Chuck Lofgren (27 IP, 1.33 ERA) and Jeanmar Gomez (12 IP, 0.75 ERA) throwing lights out.
But what will eventually get him to Cleveland will be his bat, and he has been raking down in Akron again this season hitting .273 with a .416 OBP, .534 SLG and .950 OPS. Those are great numbers as he has demonstrated his keen eye of the strike zone while being pitched around in the middle of the Aero lineup (22 Walks to 15 K's). His 6 Home Runs and 22 RBI are amongst the leaders in the Eastern League as well. It will be interesting to see when young Carlos breaks in with the big league club, with Victor Martinez's 2011 free agent year looming. Santana's swing switch hitting swing is reminiscent of V-Marts', while sporting his #41 jersey behind the dish at Canal Park. Hopefully this Tribe phenom, he will have to choose a different numeral when he gets the call up to Cleveland while his mentor mans the bag over at first.
Note: from Stephanie Storm of the Akron Beacon Journal May 14th: In the fifth, the Aeros’ Carlos Santana left with right forearm tightness. Aeros manager Mike Sarbaugh said after the game removing Santana was precautionary and that he’s day-to-day for now.
Hopefully he will be fine, but the way 2009 has went so far, you never know.
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