As ugly as the Indians offense has looked at times since the All-Star Break, one bright spot has been Carlos Santana. The third baseman/first baseman/designated hitter/catcher had a week to remember, belting six home runs with a .556 batting average. He paced all of baseball in batting average, slugging percentage, hits, runs scored, home runs, and total bases during his dominant week.
In the Royals series alone, Santana hit five dingers, tying a club record in the process. He became the first player since Hunter Pence of the Giants accomplished the feat last September and the first Indians player to do so since Travis Hafner in 2004.
Teamed with Jason Kipnis‘ win last week, Santana gives the Tribe back-to-back player of the week wins for the first time since Manny Ramirez and Bartolo Colon in 2000. Santana’s hot week has him on a seven game hitting streak and four multi-hit game streak. He has even upped his batting average to .232, well above the Mendoza line it bounced around during the first few months of the season.
Hopefully some other players can pick up the slack once Santana comes back to earth.