Catcher Replacements Make Me Long For Santana

Apologies to Lou Marson and Chris Gimenez. I’m sure you guys try really hard, and you’re good teammates and all. Hell, Anthony Castrovince (who knows and watches the Indians more than I do) even went so far as to call Gimenez a “pile-jumper,” someone who would jump on the pile after a Game 7 World Series win.

But man, I really miss watching Carlos Santana play.

Santana utterly spoiled me during his short stint in the big leagues, before his freakish leg injury (F-U Ryan Kalish), with his .401 OBP and six homers in just 150 at bats (which unfortunately makes him no longer a rookie. No ROY for “Supernatural” Santana). I loved the way he played the game, and he was only going to get better.

With Santana injured, we’ve been treated to a whole lotta Lou. And the other night’s grand slam aside, I don’t like it one bit.

While I don’t think Lou Marson is really this bad of a hitter (and he’s been bad, with a .547 OPS) and could turn out to actually be a decent hitting catcher, he always looks like he’s scared crapless out there. Seriously, he looks like a deer in headlights.

Santana’s become almost an afterthought amongst all this losing. But not to me. I want to wear my Santana jersey shirt again without getting wistful. Lately, every time I see Lou Marson, I just think to myself: Santana will be back next season. It may be a pipe dream, but it’s something to try to hold on to.

Get well soon, Carlos.