Kevin Santa

Kevin Giovanni Santa Torres

• Bats Left, Throws Right
• Height 5' 10", Weight 175 lb.
• School Chipola College, University of Tampa
• High School Puerto Rican Baseball Academy

• Born March 5, 1995 in Yabucoa, P.R.

BR Minors page

Biographical Information

Infielder Kevin Santa is a graduate of the Puerto Rican Baseball Academy. While this did not result for him in being drafted straight from there in the Amateur Draft, like other famous graduates such as Carlos Correa, it got him an opportunity to play college baseball in the U.S., first with Chipola College and later with the University of Tampa. He did extremely well in his two seasons there, batting .441 in 2016 and .423 in 2017, resulting in his being selected by the Seattle Mariners in the 19th round of the 2017 amateur draft.

He played for three different teams in his first pro season in 2017 - the AZL Mariners, the Modesto Nuts and even two games in AAA with the Tacoma Rainiers of the Pacific Coast League in what was an emergency call-up. he did well in his 37 games, with a slash line of .331/.417/.449, largely the result of completely dominating the younger competition in the Arizona League. In 2018, he spent a full season at Modesto in the California League, playing all three traditional infield positions, and batting .287/.345/.365. In 2019, injuries limited to just 26 games, but they were spread among four different teams at as many levels, all the way from the AZL Mariners to Tacoma, with other stops in Modesto and with the Everett AquaSox of the Northern League. In spite of that uncharacteristic usage, his batting line was good at .289/.361/.371. However, in spite of his ability to handle all those various assignments, the Mariners did not really consider him a prospect, and when the COVID-19 pandemic hit and shut down the minor leagues in 2020, he was one of the large number of players let go by heir respective organizations in order to save a few dollars in salaries.

While many players gave up their dreams at that point, Kevin returned to action in 2021 by moving to the independent leagues, namely the Kansas City Monarchs of the American Association, where he hit .337 in 29 games. In 2022, he returned to Kansas City and hit .335 in 60 games. He may not have displayed much power over the year but one thing was clear at that point - he could maintain a good batting average in just about any context.

In addition to his summer resumé, he has been active in winter ball in the Puerto Rican League starting in 2017-18 when he was with the Cangrejeros de Santurce. Over the years, he has also played for the Atenienses de Manati, the Criollos de Caguas and the Leones de Ponce. On January 24, 2021, in one of the highlights of his career, he scored the winning run for Caguas in the 9th inning as it defeated the Indios de Mayagüez, 7-6, to sweep the league championship and claim the team's 19th overall title, a record. He did not appear in the 2021 Caribbean Series, however.

Related Sites

• University of Tampa bio