Results tagged ‘ Carlos Santana ’
2010 Columbus Clippers: Catchers
As the month of March comes to a close, I can start to smell the Sugardale hot dogs in the Arena District…
Carlos Santana (Bats Switch, Throws Right), 24 years old, 5-11, 190 lbs, Santo Domingo, DR
Santana is the #1 prospect in the entire Indians organization, regardless of position. He was acquired from the Dodgers in the Casey Blake trade in 2008. Last year, he batted .290 with 23 HRs and 97 RBIs in route to the Eastern League MVP award and a championship with Akron. His 90 walks, .530 slugging percentage and .943 OPS led the league. Oh by the way, he was also the 2008 California League MVP with Inland Empire.
Offensively, he is good enough to play every day in the majors. Santana has a ton of strength to all parts of the field, from both sides of the plate. He has great strike-zone awareness (averaging 90 walks the last two seasons) and the ability to make a pitcher look when a mistake pitch is made. Defensively, he has an above average arm and tremendous accuracy throwing out runners. The Indians want Santana to fine tune his catching skills before jumping into the Cleveland spotlight.
Damaso Espino (Bats Right, Throws Right), 26 years old, 6-1, 210 lbs, Los Santos, Panama
Espino served as the Clippers backup catcher last season and batted .261 with 2 HRs and 14 RBIs. He has very little power, but is solid defensively and handles pitchers well.
He has become a good organizational player for the Indians and provides the catching depth at the upper levels of the minors that most organizations cherish.
Chris Gimenez (Bats Right, Throws Right), 27 years old, 6-2, 215 lbs, Gilroy, CA
Gimenez will mostly play the corner infield and outfield spots, but will also serve as the Clippers third catcher. After starting the 2009 Clippers season in a platoon with Wyatt Toregas, Gimenez was recalled to Cleveland on May 31st and stayed in the bigs for four months. He started last season 0-for-21 in Triple-A and batted just .144 in 45 games with the Indians.
He won’t be in the Clippers lineup everyday so it’ll be important that Gimenez takes advantage of his opportunities at the plate, in order to overcome the demons of last season.
Others: With the free-agent signing of veteran Mike Redmond to backup last year’s trade acquisition Lou Marson, it begs the question “What about Wyatt Toregas?” Unfortunately, there isn’t an answer as of yet. He could be designated once Manny Acta announces the Indians opening day roster.
Clippers add five in latest moves
The Indians reduced their spring roster by seven today, assigning four players to the Columbus roster: CA Carlos Santana, OF Jordan Brown, RHP Jeanmar Gomez, and RHP Hector Rondon.
INF Carlos Rivero and OF Nick Weglarz were optioned to Double-A Akron. INF Beau Mills was assigned to minor league camp.
In addition, INF Brian Bixler has cleared waivers and been outrighted to the Clippers roster. Bixler was designated for assignment Wednesday to make room for newly acquired Anderson Hernandez. Hernandez was claimed off waivers from the Mets.
Top catching prospect Carlos Santana headlines the group of reassignments. Santana is expected to be the Clippers starting catcher on Opening Day. He was 4-for-16 with two doubles and one RBI in big league camp.
Reigning International League batting champ Jordan Brown is expected to be a key cog in the Clippers lineup once he recovers from a torn meniscus in his right knee. Brown underwent surgery after injuring the knee during outfield drills two weeks ago.
Jeanmar Gomez, only 22 years old, will find a spot in the Clippers starting rotation after posting a 10-4 mark (22 starts) and a 3.43 ERA in Akron last season. Gomez threw a perfect game on May 21, 2009 against Trenton.
Hector Rondon will be a top-of-the-rotation starter for the Clippers this year. He is considered a top pitching prospect and posted a combined 3.38 ERA between Akron and Columbus (25 starts).
I’m headed to sunny Goodyear this weekend. Look for daily spring training audio reports, blog entries, video interviews and much more!
Santana undergoes surgery; Miller suffers setback
The Cleveland Indians today announced CA CARLOS SANTANA underwent surgery yesterday to remove a fracture of the hamate bone in his right hand.
The surgery was performed by DR. TOM GRAHAM at the Curtis National Hand Center in Baltimore, MD. Santana experienced soreness in the hand and wrist area during his illness-shortened stint in winter ball.
Rehabilitation and recovery from this procedure is eight-to-ten weeks and Santana is expected to be ready for the beginning of the 2010 season
RHP ADAM MILLER recently experienced a setback while progressing on his post operative interval throwing program in Goodyear, AZ.
The setback necessitated additional surgical intervention with Dr. Graham to stabilize the flexor tendon reconstruction in his right long finger.
Adam has initiated hand therapy and no timetable has been set for his return to baseball activities.
Ryan Mitchell & Scott Leo
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