Yerry De Los Santos

WTM’s PLAYER PROFILE

2015
DSL: 1-5-0, 4.73 ERA, 1.68 WHIP, 59.0 IP, 2.6 BB/9, 4.3 K/9

In 14 starts in the DSL, De Los Santos got hit around quite a bit.  He didn’t walk many, but missed very few bats.

2016
INJURED

De Los Santos had Tommy John surgery and missed the entire season.

2017
DSL:  1-0-0, 1.04 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, 8.2 IP, 3.1 BB/9, 4.2 K/9

Back in the DSL, De Los Santos was getting better results, but after five relief appearances was shut down.

2018
DSL:  0-0-0, 2.89 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, 9.1 IP, 3.9 BB/9, 12.5 K/9
R:  0-0-0, 0.00 ERA, 0.67 WHIP, 3.0 IP, 3.0 BB/9, 3.0 K/9
R+:  0-0-0, 3.00 ERA, 1.33 WHIP, 6.0 IP, 4.5 BB/9, 15.0 K/9

De Los Santos went back to the DSL, making seven relief appearances before the Pirates promoted him to the GCL.  He got into two games there and then three in Bristol.  He still only threw 17 innings, but at least showed some ability to miss bats.

2019
A:  4-2-13, 1.44 ERA, 0.88 WHIP, 50.0 IP, 2.2 BB/9, 13.1 K/9

The Pirates seem to be trying to push De Los Santos and they moved him up to Greensboro in May.  He served as closer and dominated the league, striking out 38% of the batters he faced.  He held right-handed batters to a .464 OPS, but left-handed batters managed only .581.

2020
DNP

De Los Santos was eligible for the Rule 5 draft and the Pirates did not add him to the 40-man roster.  He hasn’t pitched above low A, but low-level, hard-throwing relievers are a popular target in the draft.  Fortunately, he didn’t get drafted.

2021
AA:  3-2-2, 2.04 ERA, 0.96 WHIP, 17.2 IP, 3.1 BB/9, 9.7 K/9
AAA:  0-0-0, 0.00 ERA, 0.50 WHIP, 6.0 IP, 1.5 BB/9, 9.0 K/9

De Los Santos went to Altoona and got off to a strong start, but unfortunately missed the bulk of the season with a forearm strain.  When he returned, he pitched a few games for the Curve and then finished his season with four scoreless outings for Indianapolis.  All of his numbers when he was able to pitch were in line with what the team was probably hoping to see.

2022
AAA:  2-0-3, 1.72 ERA, 0.64 WHIP, 15.2 IP, 1.1 BB/9, 11.5 K/9
MLB:  0-3-3, 4.91 ERA, 1.29 WHIP, 25.2 IP, 3.9 BB/9, 9.1 K/9

De Los Santos was eligible for minor league free agency after the season, but signed a minor league deal with the Pirates for 2022 before becoming a free agent.  He was still eligible for the Rule 5 draft, because the Pirates preferred to use roster spots for players like Eric Hanhold and Greg Allen.  Luckily, the draft got canceled.  De Los Santos opened the season with Indianapolis and the Pirates called him up in late May.  He pitched very well through the end of July, then had two bad outings in August.  In the second one, on August 11, he gave up four runs without retiring a batter.  After that, he went on the injured list with a shoulder strain and missed the rest of the season.  De Los Santos did a lot better against right-handed hitters than left-handed hitters, with an opponents’ OPS against each of .617 and .755, respectively.

De Los Santos is one of the Pirates’ few pitchers with a shot at serving as a late-inning reliever.  That doesn’t say much for management’s judgment, considering that they left him unprotected while keeping a legion of much less talented relievers on the 40-man roster.  He appeared to be a leading candidate for a bullpen spot going into 2023, but he didn’t have a good spring and got optioned to AAA at the end of camp.