What years did Rafael Santana play?

Rafael Santana played in Major League Baseball from 1983 to 1990.

Was Rafael Santana a pitcher?

No. Rafael Santana was a position player (Shortstop).

How many home runs did Rafael Santana hit?

Rafael Santana hit 13 career home runs with 497 hits.

What teams did Rafael Santana play for?

Rafael Santana played for 4 teams: the St. Louis Cardinals (1983), the New York Mets (1984–1987), the New York Yankees (1988), and the Cleveland Indians (1990).

What were Rafael Santana's career stats?

In 668 games, Rafael Santana had 497 hits, 13 home runs, 156 RBI, 188 runs, and 3 stolen bases, with a .246 batting average.

What was Rafael Santana's salary?

Rafael Santana's last recorded salary was $250,000, in 1990. His highest recorded salary was $500,000, in 1989, and his lowest was $125,000, in 1985. The Salary History table lists each season from 1985 to 1990.

What position did Rafael Santana play?

Rafael Santana played primarily as a shortstop, the position where he appeared in the most games.

How tall was Rafael Santana and how much did he weigh?

Rafael Santana was listed at 6 feet 1 inch and 165 pounds.

How many home runs did Rafael Santana hit each season?

Rafael Santana's home runs by season: 0 in 1983, 1 in 1984, 1 in 1985, 1 in 1986, 5 in 1987, 4 in 1988, and 1 in 1990. His most in one season was 5, in 1987.

What was Rafael Santana's career batting average?

Rafael Santana batted .246 over his career, with 497 hits in 2,021 at bats.

How many RBI did Rafael Santana have?

Rafael Santana drove in 156 runs in his career.

Is Rafael Santana in the Hall of Fame?

No. Rafael Santana has not been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

Rafael Santana

Shortstop · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1983-1990)

Rafael Santana was a shortstop who played in Major League Baseball from 1983 to 1990 for 4 teams, including the St. Louis Cardinals, a span of 8 seasons. In 668 career games, he hit .246 with 497 hits, 13 home runs, and 156 RBI.

AVG (Batting Average):: Hits divided by at bats. .300 is the traditional mark of an excellent hitter.
HR (Home Runs):: Hits on which the batter circled the bases and scored, almost always by clearing the outfield fence.
RBI (Runs Batted In):: Runs that scored as a direct result of a batter's plate appearance.
OPS (On-Base Plus Slugging):: On-base percentage plus slugging percentage, the quickest single summary of offensive value. .900 or better is star-level.

Data updated October 15, 2026

AVG .246

HR 13

RBI 156

H 497

OPS .601

PIV -5,021

Position: Shortstop
Bats / Throws: R / R
Height / Weight: 6'1" / 165 lb
Born: 1/31/1958 in La Romana, La Romana, D.R.
MLB Debut: 1983-04-05
Last Game: 1990-04-23

Full name: Rafael Francisco Santana

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Career Batting Statistics

Rafael Santana — Career Batting Statistics
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	PIV
668	2,021	188	497	74	5	13	156	3	138	234	.246	.295	.307	.601	-5,021

Career AVG .246 vs. league average .259 across their career seasons — near league average.

Career OBP .295 vs. league average .324 across their career seasons — 9.2% below league average.

Career SLG .307 vs. league average .391 across their career seasons — 21.6% below league average.

Career OPS .601 vs. league average .716 across their career seasons — 16.0% below league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Rafael Santana — Season-by-Season Batting
Year	Team	Lg	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG	Lg AVG	Lg OBP	Lg SLG	Lg OPS	PIV
1983	SLN	NL	30	14	1	3	0	0	0	2	0	2	2	.214	—	—	—	—	0.0
1984	NYN	NL	51	152	14	42	11	1	1	12	0	9	17	.276	.259 (+6%)	.322 (-2%)	.384 (-1%)	.707 (-1%)	-48.1
1985	NYN	NL	154	529	41	136	19	1	1	29	1	29	54	.257	.257 (avg)	.323 (-9%)	.390 (-23%)	.714 (-16%)	-1346.4
1986	NYN	NL	139	394	38	86	11	0	1	28	0	36	43	.218	.257 (-15%)	.325 (-13%)	.395 (-36%)	.720 (-25%)	-1518.6
1987	NYN	NL	139	439	41	112	21	2	5	44	1	29	57	.255	.262 (-3%)	.331 (-9%)	.415 (-17%)	.746 (-13%)	-948.2
1988	NYA	AL	148	480	50	115	12	1	4	38	1	33	61	.240	.254 (-6%)	.317 (-9%)	.377 (-22%)	.695 (-16%)	-1159.5
1990	CLE	AL	7	13	3	3	0	0	1	3	0	0	0	.231	—	—	—	—	0.0
Career · 7 seasons			668	2,021	188	497	74	5	13	156	3	138	234	.246	—	—	—	—	-5,021

Lg columns show the league average for that season, with the player's figure as a percentage above or below it. Career totals the seasons listed above.

Postseason Statistics

Playoff Career Batting

Rafael Santana — Playoff Career Batting
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
13	37	3	8	0	0	0	2	2	8	.216

Playoff Batting by Year

Rafael Santana — Playoff Batting by Year
Year	Round	Team	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
1986	NLCS	NYN	6	17	0	3	0	0	0	0	0	3	.176
1986	WS	NYN	7	20	3	5	0	0	0	2	2	5	.250

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (668 games) →

Per-game data from Retrosheet (regular season, through 2025).

Batting — Home / Away

Rafael Santana — Batting — Home / Away
Split	G	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	AVG
Home	330	979	89	225	5	73	.230
Away	338	1042	99	272	8	83	.261

Last 10 Games — Batting

Rafael Santana — Last 10 Games — Batting
Date	Tm	Opp	Res	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	SO
1990-04-23	CLE	TOR	L	0	0	0	0	0	0
1990-04-18	CLE	KCR	L	0	0	0	0	0	0
1990-04-16	CLE	KCR	W	4	1	1	0	1	0
1990-04-15	CLE	CHW	L	0	0	0	0	0	0
1990-04-14	CLE	CHW	L	4	1	1	1	2	0
1990-04-13	CLE	CHW	W	3	1	1	0	0	0
1990-04-12	CLE	NYY	L	2	0	0	0	0	0
1988-09-30	NYY	DET	L	3	0	1	0	0	1
1988-09-29	NYY	BAL	W	4	0	1	0	1	0
1988-09-28	NYY	BAL	L	3	0	1	0	0	1

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Rafael Santana — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
2B	10	1	2	4	1	1
3B	4	0	0	2	2	1
SS	639	578	1014	1697	87	364

Season-by-Season Fielding

Rafael Santana — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year	Team	Pos	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
1983	SLN	2B	9	1	2	4	1	1
1983	SLN	3B	4	0	0	2	2	1
1983	SLN	SS	6	0	1	2	1	1
1984	NYN	SS	50	42	92	104	6	34
1985	NYN	SS	153	145	301	396	25	81
1986	NYN	2B	1	0	0	0	0	0
1986	NYN	SS	137	111	203	369	16	68
1987	NYN	SS	138	129	213	396	17	82
1988	NYA	SS	148	147	202	421	22	96
1990	CLE	SS	7	4	2	9	0	2

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Rafael Santana — Career Games by Position
Position	Games
Second Base	9
Third Base	5
Shortstop	639

Salary History

Rafael Santana's recorded salaries total $1,785,000 over 6 seasons, 1985 to 1990. This total is partial: the salary data covers 1985 to 2016, and Santana's career ran from 1983 to 1990. His seasons before 1985 are not included.

Rafael Santana — Salary History
Year	Team	League	Salary
1990	CLE	AL	$250,000
1989	NYA	AL	$500,000
1988	NYA	AL	$425,000
1987	NYN	NL	$250,000
1986	NYN	NL	$235,000
1985	NYN	NL	$125,000
Total recorded salary (partial)			$1,785,000

Most Similar Players

Career comps based on counting + rate stats and primary position. Score is relative — closest peer anchors at ~98%.

Career Spans

Rafael Santana (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

Rafael Santana: the record in brief

April 5, 1983 and April 23, 1990 bracket Rafael Santana's time in the majors: the debut and the last game on record. Santana played for the St. Louis Cardinals (1983), the New York Mets (1984 to 1987), the New York Yankees (1988), and the Cleveland Indians (1990). Born on January 31, 1958, in La Romana, La Romana, D.R., Santana is listed as a shortstop and threw and hit right-handed. The bio gives 6 feet, 1 inch and 165 pounds. The given name on file is Rafael Francisco Santana.

Across 668 games at the plate, Santana's career line reads 497 hits in 2,021 at bats for a .246 average; the totals also include 13 homers and 156 RBI. Santana got on base at a .295 rate and slugged .307 (.601 OPS). Against a .259 league average for those years, Santana's .246 average was near the norm. 1985 produced Santana's most hits, 136 of them for the New York Mets. Even the best average among the busiest seasons, .257 in 1985, did not top the league's .257. The seasons in which Santana beat the league batting average were 1984.

Frequently Asked Questions about Rafael Santana

What years did Rafael Santana play?: Rafael Santana played in Major League Baseball from 1983 to 1990.
Was Rafael Santana a pitcher?: No. Rafael Santana was a position player (Shortstop).
How many home runs did Rafael Santana hit?: Rafael Santana hit 13 career home runs with 497 hits.
What teams did Rafael Santana play for?: Rafael Santana played for 4 teams: the St. Louis Cardinals (1983), the New York Mets (1984–1987), the New York Yankees (1988), and the Cleveland Indians (1990).
What were Rafael Santana's career stats?: In 668 games, Rafael Santana had 497 hits, 13 home runs, 156 RBI, 188 runs, and 3 stolen bases, with a .246 batting average.
How much did Rafael Santana earn in his career?: Rafael Santana's recorded salaries total $1,785,000 over 6 seasons, 1985 to 1990. This total is partial: the salary data covers 1985 to 2016, and Santana's career ran from 1983 to 1990. His seasons before 1985 are not included.
What was Rafael Santana's salary?: Rafael Santana's last recorded salary was $250,000, in 1990. His highest recorded salary was $500,000, in 1989, and his lowest was $125,000, in 1985. The Salary History table lists each season from 1985 to 1990.
What position did Rafael Santana play?: Rafael Santana played primarily as a shortstop, the position where he appeared in the most games.
How tall was Rafael Santana and how much did he weigh?: Rafael Santana was listed at 6 feet 1 inch and 165 pounds.
How many home runs did Rafael Santana hit each season?: Rafael Santana's home runs by season: 0 in 1983, 1 in 1984, 1 in 1985, 1 in 1986, 5 in 1987, 4 in 1988, and 1 in 1990. His most in one season was 5, in 1987.
What was Rafael Santana's career batting average?: Rafael Santana batted .246 over his career, with 497 hits in 2,021 at bats.
How many RBI did Rafael Santana have?: Rafael Santana drove in 156 runs in his career.
Is Rafael Santana in the Hall of Fame?: No. Rafael Santana has not been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.