Carlos Santana could return Friday for Cleveland Indians

Through the first 50 games of the 2014 season, Carlos Santana‘s disastrous start mirrored the troubles for the Cleveland Indians as a whole.

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With the team starting to get things on track during Santana’s short stint on the disabled list, Santana will hope to start generating some positive momentum in the coming games as well.

Placed on the seven-day disabled list with concussion-like symptoms on May 27th, Santana is on track to return to the lineup on Friday. According to Alec Shirkey of MLB.com:

"As for Santana, Francona told reporters Tuesday the third baseman/backup catcher took part in a normal pregame routine, including fielding work and time spent in the batting cages. Francona said he expects the 28-year-old Santana, who has doubled as Cleveland’s backup catcher, to be ready for activation by Friday."

Santana has primarily played third base, though that has been a struggle for a guy who was a catcher by trade initially. He had played games at first base previously in his career, but third is a whole different animal. That may or may not be contributing to Santana’s serious struggles at the plate this year. Through 50 games Santana is batting .159/.327/.301 with six home runs and 17 driven in.

Because Swisher is also currently out of the lineup, manager Terry Francona also noted that Santana might get some run at first base. The Indians will just hope that regular at-bats will help the switch-hitting slugger snap out of this prolonged slump.

At that point, I suppose, they can then consider what, if anything, can be done to improve their atrocious defense when Santana plays the hot corner.

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