The Pittsburgh Pirates have added 24-year-old right-handed pitcher Yerry De Los Santos to their active roster ahead of Monday’s game at home against the Colorado Rockies. To make room on the 26-man roster, pitcher Bryse Wilson has been optioned to Indianapolis. To make room on the 40-man roster, shortstop Kevin Newman has been transferred to the 60-day injured list.
De Los Santos was signed out of the Dominican Republic at 16 years old. He was a starter at first, but injuries, including Tommy John surgery, limited him to just 17 relief outings over the the 2016-18 seasons. When he came back in 2019, he was a hard-throwing reliever with a slider for his strikeout pitch. He had outstanding results that year with Greensboro, then missed the 2020 season during the shutdown, though he was able to make up some innings in winter ball. He split last year between Altoona and Indianapolis, though once again an injury caused him to miss a lot of time. The Pirates re-signed him as a minor league free agent immediately after the season and he saw some time in the Dominican winter league again. This season he has a 1.72 ERA, 20 strikeouts and an 0.64 WHIP in 15.2 innings for Indianapolis. Including winter ball, he has pitched just 125 innings since 2015.
Wilson had made five starts and three relief appearances this year, posting a 7.53 ERA, a 1.78 WHIP, and a 14:24 BB/SO ratio in 28.2 innings. He had a 4.91 ERA and a 1.24 WHIP in eight starts for the Pirates last year after being acquired in the Richard Rodriguez deal.
Newman recently had a setback in his rehab, which just yesterday was referred to as minor, but this trip to the 60-day IL says otherwise. He was likely just days away from returning to the Pirates if his rehab went well, possibly today going by his rehab timeline. However, he is now out until at least June 26th, so this minor setback added another five weeks minimum to his return.
