SURPRISE, AZ – Three years and one month ago, the Pittsburgh Pirates signed right-handed pitcher Edgar Santana. The signing wasn’t notable at the time, as it came just days before his 22nd birthday. Typically, when Latin American players sign that late, and sign so late during the signing period, it means they are just organizational fillers.
Santana spent his age 22 season in the DSL, throwing only 19.2 innings. He showed some promise with good velocity, with our reports that year saying he threw mid-90s with a plus slider. That was good to see, but he was still a guy who would be in his age 23 season when he made the jump to the US.
He made that jump the following year, and the Pirates gave him a bit of an aggressive push, sending him to Morgantown and later to West Virginia. He continued showing a fastball in the 94-96 MPH range, along with a slider that was a strikeout pitch, and the ability to get a lot of ground balls.
The aggressive push not only continued, but increased in 2016. He started his age 24 season in Bradenton, but quickly moved up to Altoona after dominating in the first month of the season. He continued to dominate in 41.1 innings in Altoona, and moved up to Indianapolis at the end of the year. The results at the top level weren’t the best in 16 innings of work, but he still showed the ability to get strikeouts and generate a lot of ground balls. The Pirates sent him to the AFL this off-season, where he has yet to give up a run, while striking out 17 with no walks in 10.2 innings.
All of that sounds great — a reliever who can throw mid-90s with a plus slider, getting a lot of strikeouts, a lot of ground balls, and moving quickly through the minors with good results along the way. But the one question is his age, with Santana now sitting at 25 years old.
That’s not really much of a concern when you consider the stuff, as Santana projects to be a late inning reliever with his fastball/slider combo, and his age doesn’t change that. But the age becomes kind of impressive when you know the backstory here.
Santana signed late because he started playing baseball late. He started playing baseball at age 19. No one in his family had played the game, and rather than go into it at a young age, he went to school. Upon finishing school, he was approached by a trainer about playing the game. In his first tryout, he was throwing 85 MPH and that propelled his baseball career.
“They saw that I had a good arm, and they said ‘You can play baseball, keep going,'” Santana said of his trainer’s response to the workout.
Santana added velocity, and the Pirates signed him two years later. They taught him a slider in his first year in pro ball, and he quickly adapted to the pitch, almost instantly turning it into a strikeout offering. And now, about five years after learning the sport, Santana finds himself knocking on the door to the majors.
This puts his current age of 25 in perspective. If he learned the game at age 16, and he was knocking on the door at age 21 with his stuff, we’d be calling him the closer of the future because of the stuff, but also because of the age. I don’t think the late start and the older age should prohibit that thinking, especially when his late start means he has a fresher arm at this older age, sitting with just 141.2 innings in his pro career, not counting the AFL, Spring Training, or instructs.
Santana is definitely knocking on the door to the majors, and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him getting an invite to Spring Training in 2017. Even if he has no shot of making the team on Opening Day, the Pirates like to give their prospects some experience in the big league clubhouse before they get the call to the majors for good.
They’re already prepping him for that eventual jump by teaching him a changeup, which he’s using more often in the AFL, and which they want him working on more often to have a third pitch for the majors.
“I started [throwing] my changeup in Spring Training,” Santana said. “During the season I never used it. Here in Arizona, I’m practicing it. … They want me working on my changeup, because next year maybe they have a plan for me to play in the big leagues. So I need to throw one more pitch.”
The changeup probably isn’t that necessary though, as his fastball/slider combo looks like a pair of big league pitches that will give him success without much need for a third offering. With the Pirates needing bullpen help, and with Santana looking close to big league ready, it wouldn’t be a big surprise to see him making the jump to the majors in 2017, with that fastball/slider combo looking ready now. That’s what Santana is aiming for during the 2017 season.
“I hope so,” Santana said about reaching the majors this year. “That’s my goal. That’s why I’m working hard. I have to help my family.”
