Veteran Carlos Santana Becomes 10th Active Player to Reach 1,000 Career RBI
Carlos Santana came through in the clutch Friday night, powering the Milwaukee Brewers to a much-needed win as he reached a major career milestone.
The veteran catcher-turned-first baseman hit solo home runs in the fifth and eighth innings to lift Milwaukee to a 5-3 victory over the Washington Nationals. In doing so, Santana recorded the 999th and 1,000th RBI of his 14-year MLB career.
Santana is now the 10th active player to reach the 1,000-RBI mark. He is tied with New York Mets, Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees outfielder Darryl Strawberry for No. 302 on the all-time RBI list.
Santana broke into the big leagues with the Cleveland Indians in 2010 and was an everyday player for the club through 2017. After one year with the Philadelphia Phillies, Santana returned to Cleveland to make his first career All-Star Game and win his only Silver Slugger in 2019.
The slugger signed with the Kansas City Royals in 2021, then got traded to the Seattle Mariners in 2022. Santana started the 2023 season with the Pittsburgh Pirates, only to get dealt to the Brewers ahead of the trade deadline.
Santana has been an iron man over the course of his career, appearing in 1,607 of a possible 1,680 games from 2011 to 2021. Even as he reaches his late 30s, Santana still appeared in 131 games in 2022 and 133 thus far in 2023.
The two home runs also brought Santana to 299 for his career. If he hits No. 300 before the end of the season, the 37-year-old will become the 13th active player and 159th player in MLB history to reach that milestone.
The Brewers, meanwhile, improved to 83-64 thanks to Santana's two solo shots. Milwaukee now has a 5.5-game lead over the Chicago Cubs for first place in the NL Central.
FanGraphs gives the Brewers a 100.0% chance of making the postseason, which would mark the sixth trip to the playoffs in Santana's career.
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