Domingo Alberto Santana (born August 5, 1992) is a Dominican professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to catch ...

for the Tokyo Yakult Swallows of

Nippon Professional Baseball is a professional baseball league and the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning simply ''Professional Baseball''; outside of Japan, NPB is often referred to as "Japanese baseball". The roots of the league ...

(NPB). He has previously played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB) for the

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West Division. They are one of two major leag ...

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. The Brewers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Di ...

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. The Mariners compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West Division. The team joined the American ...

, and

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. Since , the team ...

Career

Philadelphia Phillies

Santana signed as an international

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

with the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. The Phillies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. Since 2004, the team's home stadium has ...

in March 2009, receiving a $330,000

signing bonus A signing bonus or sign-on bonus is a sum of money paid to a new employee (including a professional sports person) by a company as an incentive to join that company. They are often given as a way of making a compensation package more attractive ...

. He made his professional debut with the GCL Phillies, slashing .288/.388/.508 in 37 games. The next year, he split the season between the Low-A Williamsport Crosscutters and the Single-A Lakewood BlueClaws, batting a cumulative .211/.329/.333 with 8 home runs and 36 RBI. In 2011, Santana was assigned to Lakewood to begin the year, and hit .269/.345/.434 with 7 home runs and 32 RBI in 96 games for the club.

Houston Astros

The Phillies traded Santana to the

on July 31, 2011, with Jon Singleton, Jarred Cosart, and Josh Zeid, in exchange for Hunter Pence. He finished the year with the Single-A

Lexington Legends The Lexington Legends are an American professional baseball team based in Lexington, Kentucky. They are a member of the South Division of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, a "partner league" of Major League Baseball. The Legends have ...

, hitting .382/.447/.662 with 5 home runs and 21 RBI in 17 contests. In 2012, Santana played for the High-A

Lancaster JetHawks The Lancaster JetHawks were a baseball team located in Lancaster, California. They were named for the city's association with the aerospace industry and played their home games at The Hangar. From 1996 to 2020, they were members of Minor League B ...

, batting .302/.385/.536 with career-highs in home runs (23) and RBI (97). He spent the 2013 season with the Double-A

Corpus Christi Hooks The Corpus Christi Hooks are a Minor League Baseball team of the Texas League and the Double-A affiliate of the Houston Astros. They are located in Corpus Christi, Texas, and are named for the city's association with fishing. The team is owned b ...

, posting a .252/.345/.498 slash line with a career-high 25 home runs and 64 RBI. He was added to the 40-man roster on November 20, 2013. He was assigned to Triple-A to begin the 2014 season. The Astros promoted Santana to the major leagues from the Oklahoma City RedHawks of the Triple-A

Pacific Coast League The Pacific Coast League (PCL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Western United States. Along with the International League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade bel ...

(PCL) on July 1, 2014. He debuted the same day, going 0-for-4 with three

strikeout In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It means the batter is out, unless the third strike is not caught by the catcher and the batter reaches first base safe ...

s. After batting 0-for-13 with 11 strikeouts, the Astros demoted Santana to Oklahoma City on July 6. Domingo Santana Houston Astros July 2014

On March 13, 2015, Santana was optioned to the Fresno Grizzlies of the PCL. He was recalled on June 16. That same day, he collected his first major league hit on an RBI single to right that scored Evan Gattis.

Milwaukee Brewers

On July 30, 2015, the Astros traded Santana, Brett Phillips, Josh Hader, and Adrian Houser to the

for Carlos Gómez and Mike Fiers. The Brewers assigned Santana to the

Colorado Springs Sky Sox The Colorado Springs Sky Sox were a Minor League Baseball team in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The team played in the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and was the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers (2015–2018), Colorado R ...

of the PCL, and promoted him to the major leagues on August 21. He missed most of the 2016 season with a shoulder and an elbow injury. In spring training of 2017, Santana competed for the starting right field job, ultimately winning the job. On July 26, 2017, Santana hit the longest home run in the history of

Nationals Park Nationals Park is a baseball stadium along the Anacostia River in the Navy Yard (Washington, D.C.), Navy Yard neighborhood of Washington, D.C. It is the ballpark of Major League Baseball's Washington Nationals. Since its completion in 2008, it wa ...

, a shot which landed on the concourse behind the left field stands. Santana continued as the starting right fielder for the remainder of the season, finishing with 30 home runs and 85 RBIs in 151 games. Before the 2018 season, the Brewers acquired Christian Yelich and Lorenzo Cain, leaving Santana to serve as a bench player for the beginning of the season. Through 189 at bats, he was hitting .249 with three home runs and 17 RBIs off the bench before being demoted to Colorado Springs on June 23. He batted .283 with eight home runs in 55 games for the Sky Sox. The Brewers recalled Santana on September 1. As a

pinch hitter In baseball, a pinch hitter (PH) is a substitute batter. Batters can be substituted at any time while the ball is dead (not in active play); the manager may use any player who has not yet entered the game as a substitute. Unlike basketball, A ...

, Santana batted 9-for-22 (.409) in the final month of the season.

Seattle Mariners

On December 21, 2018, the Brewers traded Santana to the

for Ben Gamel and Noah Zavolas. In the Mariners season opener in Japan on March 20, Santana hit a grand slam to help lift the Mariners to the win over the Athletics. In 2019 he batted .253/.329/.441. He had the highest strikeout percentage in the major leagues (32.3%). In 2019, on defense he led all major league outfielders in errors, with 9. On December 2, 2019, Santana was non-tendered by Seattle and became a free agent.

Cleveland Indians

On February 14, 2020, Santana was signed to a one-year contract with the

, with a club option for the 2021 season. Santana was designated for assignment by the Indians on August 31, after he struggled to a .157/.298/.286 slash line with two home runs and 12 RBI in 24 games. After clearing waivers, Santana was outrighted to the Indians' alternate training site on September 4. The Indians declined their club option on Santana's contract for the 2021 season on October 30, making Santana a free agent.

Tokyo Yakult Swallows

On December 2, 2020, Santana signed with the Tokyo Yakult Swallows of

. On April 24, 2021, Santana made his NPB debut. On November 2, 2022, Santana re-signed with the Swallows for the 2023 season. On November 28, 2023, Santana re-signed with the Swallows for the 2024 season on one-year contract worth $2.45 million. Unknown
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Personal life

Santana's father played in the

organization.

References

External links

Career statistics - NPB.jp
{{DEFAULTSORT:Santana, Domingo 1992 births Living people Tokyo Yakult Swallows players Cleveland Indians players Colorado Springs Sky Sox players Corpus Christi Hooks players Dominican Republic expatriate baseball players in the United States Florida Complex League Phillies players Houston Astros players Lakewood BlueClaws players Lancaster JetHawks players Lexington Legends players Major League Baseball outfielders Major League Baseball players from the Dominican Republic 21st-century Dominican Republic sportsmen Milwaukee Brewers players Oklahoma City RedHawks players Seattle Mariners players Baseball players from Santo Domingo Tigres del Licey players Williamsport Crosscutters players