Santana's season-ending injury doesn't change the team's plans to keep the rising star behind the plate.
View full sizeIndians catcher Carlos Santana will have surgery on his injured left knee Friday and miss the rest of the season.Clubhouse confidential: Despite the left knee injury that put catcher Carlos Santana on the operating table today at Cleveland Clinic, manager Manny Acta said there are no plans to change his position.
"Every catcher goes through an injury here and there," said Acta. "If that was the case, Joe Mauer wouldn't be catching in Minnesota. It happens in the game. Johnny Bench caught. So did Carlton Fisk, Pudge Rodriguez and Jorge Posada.
"We knew down the road we'd be getting him some playing time at first base. We value the kid as a catcher. It's just an injury. When your number is up, your number is up."
Progress: David Huff returned from Class AAA Columbus on Tuesday to get his 10th loss, but he thinks he's making progress. In the fifth inning of the 3-1 loss, he struck out Boston's DH David Ortiz.
"I threw him three change-ups in that last at-bat," said Huff. "That's what I've been working on. I think I threw one at 1-2, and he took it for a ball. I threw another at 2-2, and he took it because I spiked it [threw it in the dirt] to make it 3-2. Then with everybody in the world knowing a fastball is coming, I threw it again.
"It was low, and it wasn't a strike, but he swung at it. . . . It was good to see what I worked on in Columbus put into effect."
Stat of the day: Jason Donald ranks third among AL rookies with 16 doubles. Santana is fourth with 13.