Former Cleveland Guardians Star Sets Surprising Career Milestone

Carlos Santana may seem ancient, but he is still playing some good baseball in the latter years of his career.

Jun 20, 2024; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Twins first baseman Carlos Santana (30) rounds third base on his way to scoring against the Tampa Bay Rays in the second inning at Target Field. Mandatory Credit: Bruce Kluckhohn-USA TODAY Sports / Bruce Kluckhohn-USA TODAY Sports

Carlos Santana may play for the division rival Minnesota Twins, but the bulk of his career—and his most productive years—came with the Cleveland Guardians.

That's why you may find it interesting that the former Cleveland star just hit a major milestone, as he played in his 2,000th MLB game on Friday night. Santana became the 251st player in big-league history to achieve the feat. Additionally, he is second among active players in games played. Only Andrew McCutchen is ahead of him (h/t Jeff Passan of ESPN).

Santana spent 10 years in Cleveland across two different stints.

He broke into the majors with the franchise back in 2010 and resided in Cleveland for eight seasons before taking a short, one-year detour in Philadelphia. After spending one season with the Phillies in 2018, Santana returned to Cleveland for two more years.

Since then, the 38-year-old has bounced around between numerous different teams, suiting up for the Kansas City Royals, Seattle Mariners, Pittsburgh Pirates and Milwaukee Brewers before joining the Twins this past offseason.

Santana has made one All-Star appearance, which came in Cleveland back in 2019 when he slashed .281/.397/.515 with 34 home runs and 93 RBI.

The Dominican native began his career as a catcher, but rather promptly moved over to first base due to defensive deficiencies.

In spite of his old age, Santana is still productive, as he boasts a .247/.326/.448 slash line with 12 homers and 38 RBI across 267 plate appearances this season.

Santana owns a lifetime slash line of .242/.355/.432 and his hit 313 career long balls.

He hasn't done much damage against his former Guardians club this year, however, as he has gone just 1-for-20 in five games against Cleveland in 2024.

The Guardians are 47-26 and hold a comfortable seven-game lead over the Royals (nine in the loss column) for first place in the AL Central. Santana and the Twins are 7.5 games behind Cleveland.