CLEVELAND, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – Carlos Santana returned to Progressive Field as a visitor for the second time in his career Monday afternoon.
After being introduced, Indians manager Terry Francona went over to Santana, who was lined up with his Royals teammates on the first base line after signing a two-year, $17.5 million contract in the offseason, and gave him a hug.
Santana went 0-for-4 Monday and although he didn't collect a hit in his return to Cleveland, he came up big in a clutch moment by snuffing out a potential ninth inning rally by diving to rob a sharp grounder by Eddie Rosario and turning it into a 3-6-1 double play.
Santana hugged catcher Roberto Perez and tipped his helmet to the crowd when he stepped into the batter’s box in the top of the first inning.
“Just because a kid changes uniforms doesn’t mean he’s going to change the way he behaves or the way he acts,” Francona said. “You’re going to find a guy that probably wants to play 162 games, shoot even counting spring training when he’d always ask veteran guys, ‘Do you want anther at-bat’ he’d always take two.
“He just loves to play baseball.”
An anchor for the Indians lineup from 2011-17 and 2019-2020, Santana is already a hit in Kansas City, especially within their clubhouse.
“We’re gonna face [Kansas City] 19 times. I certainly can’t root for him to beat us, but we’re not any less fond of him because he’s in a Royals uniform,” Francona said. “He endeared himself to just about everyone here – myself included.”
The addition of Santana to a lineup that includes All-Stars Whit Merrifield and Salvador Perez, Andrew Benintendi and Hunter Dozie has Francona worried about the Royals, who haven’t finished higher than third in the division since making back-to-back Word Series appearances in 2014 and 2015.
“I hope their pitching doesn’t keep up with their offense,” Francona said “They’re a handful offensively. They’re deep, they’re athletic, they have (guys hitting from) different sides of the plate, they have guys that can run, they have guys that can hit the ball out of the ballpark. Some of their bench players are really good baseball players.
“Again, if their pitching stays with their offense, they’re gonna really be tough. In small sample sizes, you don’t know over the course of the year, but they did a good job putting together an offense for sure.”
Splitting short – The two players acquired from the Mets – Amed Rosario and Andres Giminez – continue to split time in the spot created by the trade of Francisco Lindor to New York.
Monday afternoon, Francona opted for Rosario over Giminez, who went 1-for-8 over the weekend in Detroit, in the home opener.
“Gimenez, he’ll be right back in there. I just wanted to keep Amed in the lineup,” Francona said. “We’ll be doing some mixing and matching. Amed’s gonna move back and forth a little bit. He’s not just a platoon player for sure. We’ll make sure we’ll keep everybody to the point where they can be productive.”
Rosario went 2-for-6 and scored twice in the Tigers series. He will continue to work out in center field when he’s not in the lineup according to Francona.
Valuable clubs – The Indians are valued at $1.16 billion according to Forbes magazine, who released their annual valuations Monday, an increase of 1% from 2020.
The Yankees are baseball’s most valuable franchise with a valuation of $5.25 billion followed by the Dodgers ($3.57 billion) and Red Sox ($3.465 billion). The Cubs and Giants are also valued above $3 billion.
Miami is the least valuable at $990 million joining Tampa Bay ($1.055 billion), Kansas City ($1.06 billion), Cincinnati ($1.085 billion and Oakland ($1.125 billion) below Cleveland.
Awards szn – Prior to player introductions, Francona handed out the 2020 awards to the team’s winners from last season – the American League Cy Young Award to Shane Bieber, Gold Gloves to Cesar Hernandez and Roberto Perez and a Silver Slugger award to Jose Ramirez.
Paying respect – Prior to the national anthem there was a moment of silence held for former Indians and Cavs broadcaster Joe Tait and another for victims of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Between the first and second innings the Indians honored Michael Stanley and played “My Town.”
For openers – The Indians’ four-year streak of winning home openers came to an end Monday.
Cleveland fell to 63-58 all-time in home openers, which featured the Royals for the second straight year and fifth time overall.
Up next – Off Tuesday. Series resumes Wednesday afternoon at 1:10. Shane Bieber (0-1, 4.50 era) makes his second start of the season. The Royals have yet to announce a starter.