Carlos Santana returns from injured list, jumps right back into KC Royals’ lineup
Carlos Santana has sparingly spent time on the injured list during his 13-year career in the big leagues. On Friday, the Kansas City Royals’ first baseman returned from his first non-concussion related stint on the IL since 2010.
The Royals reinstated Santana, 36, from the IL and put him in the starting lineup as their designated hitter and cleanup batter for an interleague series opener against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field. Santana had been sidelined since May 3 with right ankle bursitis.
He went 0 for 3 Friday with two walks and a strikeout, scoring once as the Royals won 14-10.
The Royals optioned catcher Sebastian Rivero to Double-A Northwest Arkansas to make room for Santana, who’ll also serve as the club’s emergency catcher behind Salvador Perez and rookie MJ Melendez. Backup Cam Gallagher remains on the IL with a hamstring strain.
Santana, a switch-hitter, last played on May 2 against the St. Louis Cardinals and collected two hits in that game. But the ankle issue actually started during the previous series against the New York Yankees.
Santana initially had his mind set on playing through the injury, saying, “You know me. I like to play. I like to help the team.”
Instead, Santana said a conversation with Royals manager Mike Matheny convinced him that the IL stint was the best option if it meant missing a few games and being healthy instead of potentially dragging out the injury and missing a large portion of the season.
Santana had performed better at the plate just before his injury. He’d hit safely in each of his last four games and registered a three-walk game in a game against the Chicago White Sox.
In his last nine games before going on the IL, Santana slashed .258/.410/.419 with one home run and five RBIs.
That also factored into his not wanting to go on the IL.
“That’s why I didn’t want to be out, because I was feeling comfortable,” he said. “... The last week before I got hurt, I was feeling comfortable at the plate, making good contact and playing good defense.”
Santana, who is in the final season of a two-year contract, struggled at the plate to start this season. He entered the night batting .159 with a .312 on-base percentage and a .254 slugging percentage through 19 games, though his advanced statistics showed he’d also been a victim of bad luck on balls he’d put in play.
“He was starting to put some things together right when — it seems like that’s how it happens — a guy gets going in the right direction and then something kind of sets him back,” Matheny said of Santana. “It’ll be good to have him back in the mix and hopefully pick up where he left off and keep moving in a good direction.”
Santana prides himself on being an everyday player. He played an average of 154 games per season from 2011-19, and he played all 60 in the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign.
Santana played more than the final month of last season in pain due to a left-quad injury that prompted him to have platelet-rich plasma (PRP) treatment this offseason and spend the first part of the winter rehabbing.
Going back to 2011, the only disabled list/injured list stints Santana had was for concussion-like symptoms in 2014 and a concussion in 2012.
In 2010, while he was still a catcher, a collision at home plate ended Santana’s season. He had surgery on his left knee in August of that year.
This story was originally published May 13, 2022 at 9:05 PM.
