The Pirates announced they’ve claimed reliever Dennis Santana off waivers from the Yankees. Pittsburgh designated Jose Hernandez for assignment to open a 40-man roster spot. The Bucs also recalled Ryder Ryan from Triple-A Indianapolis to take the bullpen spot opened by yesterday’s designation of Ben Heller.
Santana, 28, signed a minor league deal with New York over the offseason. He cracked the Yankee roster within the first week of the season. Santana tossed 27 1/3 innings, typically in middle relief, in the Bronx. While he had a decent run through the season’s first month, he’s run into harder times since the calendar flipped to May. Santana allowed 6.26 earned runs per nine while striking out a personal-low 16.5% of batters faced altogether.
The right-hander has posted an ERA above 5.00 in three consecutive seasons. Santana has nevertheless caught the attention of various teams as a middle innings target. Pittsburgh will be his fifth team dating back to 2021. Santana throws relatively hard, sitting in the 95-96 MPH range with his sinker and four-seam fastball. Until this season, that had generally translated into average swing-and-miss rates against MLB hitters.
Santana has exhausted his minor league options. He’ll step directly into Pittsburgh’s bullpen once he reports to the team. The Pirates need to keep him in the majors or again send him into DFA limbo. Santana surpassed the four-year service threshold this season and would be eligible for arbitration for two more years if he pitches well enough to hold the roster spot.
Hernandez, a 6’3″ southpaw, was the third pick in the 2022 Rule 5 draft. The Bucs stashed him in low-leverage relief last season to gain his long-term contractual rights from the Dodgers. While Hernandez struggled to a 4.97 ERA across 50 2/3 innings, his 27.8% strikeout percentage was reason for optimism that he could be a long-term bullpen piece.
The 26-year-old has had a tough follow-up season, most of which has been spent in Indianapolis. Hernandez has allowed 12 runs over 15 1/3 Triple-A frames. He has fanned 21 of 75 batters faced (a solid 28% clip) but walked nine. Hernandez has been limited to 5 1/3 frames of two-run ball at the MLB level this season. His 81.6 MPH average slider velocity and 93.1 MPH fastball speed are each down more than a mile per hour relative to last year.
Pittsburgh will trade Hernandez or put him on waivers within the next few days. He’s in his first of three option years and has a solid track record of missing bats in the minors, so it wouldn’t be surprising if another team takes a low-cost flier.
He certainly gets around
So they got rid of a better pitcher to pick one up who is worse by every metric. I don’t understand??
If he is anything someone will trade a prospect for him. Prospect for a reliever you can’t make usable is a win. Hernandez if healthy isn’t someone you want to give up on but maybe he isn’t healthy. Santana will do well or be dfa as well for another reliever. You just keep running the cycle. If you were wrong on your assessment other teams will inform you and you will get a prospect. There’s nothing to lose. Eventually you find a useful player.
Hernandez was that useful player they found for practically nothing. Still has years of control left, throws hard and with movement as a lefty, young and not a ton of mileage or significant injury history with his arm. Dude was taken in rule 5 draft straight from AA. They already got through the hard part of having him on the MLB roster for a year. They just needed the patience to let him finish developing. Worst part is he still has options and has been optioned already this season. They DFA’d him simply because they needed the 40 man spot to get Santana who throws pretty much equally as hard as Hernandez, has less movement and worse swing and miss ratios and can’t be optioned. Absolutely atrocious asset management especially when guys like Daulton Jeffries, Tsing Che Cheng, and Josh Palacios are still on the 40 man that you can kick off.
Nothing to worry about. He was a great rule 5 pick. Looked to have great promise his 1st year. All down since. Stuff not as good. No control. They had plenty of time to improve. If they had anything left to try they would have kept him. If there is something there another team will trade for him and they will get a prospect. It’s just a reliever. Guys like him are available to trade claim often. Let someone else have a try with him.
I’m not losing sleep over Hernandez but I simply don’t understand letting him go to get a pitcher who is no better? If they would go that route, I’d prefer a guy who can at least pitch multiple innings. I mean, if they were just gonna let him collect dust on the active roster, may as well have kept Roansy around instead. Shelton is scared to death of using anyone other than Bednar, Holderman, Ortiz and Chapman and I can’t blame him, Chapman is super inconsistent as well but guys who look good at times like Stratton and Nicolas simply forget how to pitch at times.
No better with other teams. Teams always think they know how to improve someone. Or at least they don’t know how to with Jose. They simply like their chances with Santana better. Could have a Santana dfa article next month. The 40 man is a revolving door for unprovens.
Dream- But to give up on a guy this quick who has options when there are three players who easily can be dfa’d tells me that the GM has no confidence in his pitching coaches to make this guy better,
Dennis Santana is a AAAA pitcher that they probably could have signed to a minor league contract which would have been perfectly fine.
I think that Marin has done a good job but maybe the minor league pitching development is not much better that the batting development.
Nothing is close to being as bad as the hitting development. Pitching development isn’t anything special that’s for sure.
How long are you going to wait to fix this guy? He’s looked bad all spring, at the mlb, in the minors. Much worse than he did as a rule 5 forced to mlb too early. That guy I ain’t giving up on. Haven’t seen that guy in a long time. Pirates have all the advance data and medical. Just have to hope they know what they are doing.
The other guys will be dfa soon enough. You have to realize they need to manage a AAA roster as well.
Another team should and if healthy will pick up Jose. Find his previous stuff or increase his control and you have a mlb reliever.
The Pirates have had guys with better stuff than this guy and can’t develop them so not going to shed any tears.
Hole- Seems the same to me.If he indeed is hurt why didn’t they put him on the IL?
Or is this another one of Cherington’s bright moves?
Hernandez pitched well last year until he went on the IL so maybe that injury affected him long term because he did not pitch as well afterwards last year.
Reminds me of Roansy and Ortiz. Both lost velocity. Ortiz got his back. Odd how this is common with the Pirates.
I have a bad feeling Hernandez has something serious wrong with his arm. His fastball velo was down by nearly 3 MPH in his last MILB outing.
Saw him pitch at Indy also. Got knocked around.
I had high hopes for the kid. I thought he was electric last year. But in most of his appearances, he’s looked like a different pitcher. I can believe he’s lost heat. Wonder why
because he pitched for the Pirates?
It’s defintiley something injury related. First game of the year he was sitting 94-95 and just steadily dropped from there.
At least he didn’t get knocked around for 13 runs in two innings
Mi ritmo!
Bueno pa’ gozar!
Mulata….
和大满
Arsonist
“Na na Santanaaaaaaa, Da du da da”
The tattoo shops near the stadium are going to be getting some business!
I don’t trust anything this management says or does anymore
Their recent signings and waiver claims have been horrendous for the parent club
Spin the wheel of relievers Pittsburgh!
See ya later garbage man Dennis Santana should be one of the vendors selling hot dogs in the stands. He doesn’t belong anywhere near a pitching mound. Hopefully he set aside a couple grand to hold him down while he looks for a job on indeed or zip recruiter.
please send Suwinski back to Indy. He just now allowed 2 pitches almost down the middle go by without taking his bat off of his shoulder for a called strike three
A+
So much for Dream’s claim that they are out of their team offensive slump
4 innings, no hits and against a pitcher with an era of over 4
They always have trouble with Miklas
He must channel Wainwright when he pitches against them. The guy could throw his glove on the mound and it’d be enough
Seasons over. 4 innings with no hits! Nóooooooooooo There in a slump! Nooooooooooo
3 hits for the entire game, all in one 9th inning
I was just making the point that you were wrong about their offensive slump being over. I know that you hate being wrong
The Pirates are just not a good hitting team period.
They go relatively well then poorly but it all averages out to below mediocre at best.
The slumps are just as representative of when they are hitting relatively well.
What will doom them other than poor coaching and managing and fundamentals and a mediocre bullpen is the loss of Jones and Skenes to game counts later in the year.
What about the 20 hits they had over the weekend? That’s 18 innings. Over 4x the same size. But if 4 innings is a slump then I was wrong. There is going to be lots if slumps then. Even if they become a playoff team in future years there will be many slumps.
except that they didn’t get their first hit until the 7th inning and still couldn’t score a run despite the triple Reynolds hit leading off that inning
it’s not just lack of hitting, it’s bad base running and scoring runs with less than 2 outs and a man in scoring position
Yet they are 8th best in baseball. Maybe next 30 days they might be 28th. We will see. 4 innings 7 innings 1 game a series I don’t even think about it. If it goes on for a week then it’s something to worry about.
Reynolds hits a triple with no outs and they don’t score a run
Because Cruz still doesn’t know the strike zone and Joe isn’t a #3 hitter
Interesting event in the 9th last night
Guy gets on with no one out and Cutch comes up
Do you bunt him with Reynolds on deck?
They didn’t of course and eventually won the game but I had to wonder out loud
Gonzalez leads off the 8th with a double and Taylor, pinch hitting for Tellez and is supposed to be a good bunter fails to advance Gonzalez who gets thrown out at third base
Base running, not knowing the strike zone ( Cruz), the Bucs had chances even before the 9th inning
And Bednar’s appearance always makes me sit on the edge of my seat
Bednar is having a difficult time throwing his spin pitches for strikes. If batters don’t swing at them, I don’t know that he can consistently get it over the plate. So a good batter knows this and sits in the fastball.
We’ve had a lot of good relievers here in the past 10-12 years but I don’t know that any of them relied solely on blowing the ball by people. He needs to refine his spin pitches
The Pirates do not have a plethora of #3 hitters.Joe has hit fairly well this year.
And Cruz did come through in the 9th.
Cutch has probably bunted 7 times in his entire life and not since 4th grade. You absolutely don’t bunt him. If you want to argue that he should know how to bunt that’s fine.
Cutch didn’t try to lay down a bunt, Taylor did
I didn’t offer an opinion one way or the other, dude. And I couldn’t care less how many times he’s bunted in his career. He’s not Barry Bonds in any way, shape or form
Dream-If the season is over then I must start buying video games to fill up my time.
Last 30 days Pirates have scored the 8th most runs in all of baseball. 80 some million dollar payroll I will take that slump anytime and everytime.
You shouldn’t do anything that requires looking at a screen. But compared to watching sports or show or movie you should ditch them in favor of video games. At least you are doing something yourself instead watching someone else do something. Pirates in playoffs that is worthy of your attention. Watching them while you eat is fine, can’t do a lot of things while eating. West coast games watch a bit to wind down and listen to as you dose off to sleep is fine. Watching all 162 is fine if that’s what you want to do. I just personally don’t want to be on my death bed looking back at my life and have it being that. Playing the right video games will get you using your brain and I guess that reduces Alzheimer’s. Inspired by tired I played pinball last night and had a blast. Better than watching a baseball team go hitless for 8 innings. I rarely play video games. I try to watch how to stuff mostly. I try to avoid watching anything. Screen time is a last resort. Even the phone is a last resort. When I am riding, waiting, using bathroom, grilling food etc is phone time. But you can’t workout, have sex, ride motorcycle, etc etc all day long. It’s just me though. Lots of people watch lots of sports. If I had more free time I might watch more. Just seems I can usually find something better to do. Do whatever makes you happy though. For me I avoid screen time but educational videos and video games I find more beneficial than movies and sports. The better the Pirates are the more I will watch. 2020 2021 2022 they were trying to intentionally lose so I didn’t watch much and only to get a look at some young players. Rebuilds are awful for fans. You watch to root for your team to win but they can’t because the gm built them to lose. Unfortunately it’s the best way to become a good team. For a small market team it’s just about the only way until you build the structure to my master plan of always contend. If they build a better team in 2025 I will watch more. Will probably watch every playoff game.
Carlos Santana hit his 10th homer of the season last night and has already hit a bases clearing double in today’s game against the Rockies
But let’s save a few million and sign Tellez instead
Might have to watch more games though now that Pittsburgh is a playoff team. If the season ended the Pirates and Giants are tied for the final wild card spot.
#RebuildOver
I think you do the #RebuildOver shtick only to get under Mendoza’s skin
But it’s like rebuilding one’s home on a shaky foundation. Yeah, it’s over. It’s just not structurally sound or at the very least, as sound as some of the other homes in the neighborhood
I wish to congratulate you on the meaningless stat of the day regarding the last 30 days and having scored the 8th most runs. Sheesh. Is this what it’s come to?
They’ve “rebuilt” with a cast of guys who if we are strictly going on what we’ve seen in their time here, will likely fade over the next 90 games
They don’t do anything particularly well but yes, in this wild card hunt, neither do many of their competitors
As such, why complain. Enjoy the mediocrity. Mediocrity is great and .500 ball is fine because hey….playoffs!
So much positive energy and good mood today.
yeah, make the playoffs with a sub .500 record and we should jump for joy, only to get crushed when they lose their first playoff game
but they make the playoffs so why complain?
come on now tired, they are good at striking out
Most projections had them as 70s wins. So most fans will be thrilled with a playoff spot as they were thinking that wasn’t much of a possibility until 2025. Obviously some fans are able to find a reason to complain.
Sox just dfa Tim Hill. Cherington should go hard after him. Unfortunately he wasn’t smart enough to sign him so might double down on stupidity.
I know of 3 long time fans that won’t be satisfied with just a wild card spot.
Why?
Primarily because 2025 will turn into 2026, then 2027, and soon they will be in rebuild mode again
It’s always next year except next year never arrives
And secondly, if they do get lucky and earn a wild card spot, they will lose their first game in the playoffs
Cherington has had 4 years to turn this team into a contender and an eventual champion
He will fail miserably
Tim Hill. Just what this team needs, another pitcher with an era of close to 6
Should just resign Heller
Projections have it under 4 with Pittsburgh. Should be under 4 now in Chicago. They are one of the most or even the most primitive organizations. So maybe they don’t realize how good he has been. Or they just don’t care and want a prospect.
If Matt Blake can’t fix you, then you can’t be fixed.
Hernandez has never impressed me. I wouldn’t mind him going unclaimed so the Pirates can retain him as depth, but I think there are better relief options in Indy. Taking a flyer on a big arm like Santana is fine with me.
Team is playing well, so nothing wrong with trying to raise the floor should more injuries arise.
what are the chances of the Bucs striking out in double figures in tonight’s game against Sonny Gray, who’s in the top five in the league in ks?
Will Cruz add to his 82? Taylor add to his 51?
Inquiring minds want to know
3 in a row to start it off. Will check stats later see how it turns out.
5 now after:3 innings. Yes it will be yet another double digit strike out performance by the Bucs pathetic offense
It’s time to turn on American Pickers
The great offense ( sarcasm) continues
Cutch walks, Reynolds drives a pitch into the right field corner for a double
2 on no outs
Gray strikes out Joe, Cruz ( no surprise) and Hayes and no runs score
I will repeat, Cruz has no business in the cleanup position of the lineup. Potential doesn’t drive in runs and neither does striking out ( 85 times now for the year)
Can someone please tell me why Gonzalez isn’t in the cleanup spot?
12 k’s is the season high vs the garbage brewers. Might be tuff to beat. Maybe shoot for 10 vs the awful Phillies.
Well, Gray had them eating of his hand with his breaking stuff. This is true measure of a big league hitter—someone who can pick up spin and play off the garbage. These guys are all suckers. And Cutch….why do pitchers ever throw him fastballs near the strike zone? And Reynolds? Whatever happened to the guy?
But hey, Davis got the blind squirrel award in the 8th
actually 15 is the season high but I can’t remember who the opposing team was
Does it even matter?
6 hits tonight, 3 last night, their offense is pathetic, despite how many runs they’ve made, according to Dream
Joe was 3 for his last 26 plate appearances before last night’s game so I have to wonder why is he even in the lineup?
Everyone on this team is more often than not in perpetual hitting slump. On occasion they win tear the cover off the ball but that’s few and far between
What happened to the batting stance Hayes used year when he was virtually hitting the cover off the ball?
And finally, how can Cherington not notice how bad this offense is while throwing all of his support behind Haines?
Today they are going against a guy whom I still consider one of the most overrated starters in baseball. And I have felt this way since he entered the league. This is a guy who they should hammer. But then again, so was Sonny Gray. I mean, the Cardinals have a garbage starting staff and I can’t remember ever thinking that in 40 years
But Cutch is on the bench. So is Gonzales.
You know….guys need a day off
I don’t get why one of your most consistent hitters ( Gonzalez) needs a day off or why one of your worst hitters is playing today.
Full count, Lynn throws a fastball right down the middle to Suwinski and he never takes the bat off of his shoulders
You’re trying to win games, or are you, Shelton?
By the way, Reynolds has played in every game this year, why hasn’t he been given a day off?
One of the better starters in baseball this year. 3.38 era hasn’t given up more than 4 runs in any game. Pirates average lineup shouldn’t stand a chance. Shouldn’t do well vs Gray either.
Michael A Taylor needs to be dfa, he’s almost an automatic strikeout in each of his plate appearances, like just now
Suwinski needs to go back to Indy and Gorski be given an opportunity to see what he can do at the major league level
After finally hitting his first homer of the season, Davis should have started today instead of Grandal. This excuse that a catcher shouldn’t play a day game after a night game, when your team is starving for runs is ludicrous
And the excuse that Taylor has speed and can cover center field good is useless if your team is starving for runs
it’s going to be yet another loss and to an over the hill pitcher
I have grown tired of hearing the announcers talk their nonsense about how good Suwinski is only to watch him ( do what he does best ) swing at a pitch nowhere close to the plate for strike three
Rowdy bats left handed, he didn’t k from a lefty pitcher
The only way Jack gets on base anymore is by way of a walk, because he doesn’t get on base with hits
27 hits in 174 plate appearances with 5 homers and 53 strikeouts
Oh, I shouldn’t forget his 15 runs batted in
P A T H E T I C
I will put Olivares’s 3 pitch strike out up against any Pirate at bat this far this year as Most Pathetic At Bat of the year. Honest to God, he looked like a little leaguer
There’s a valid reason why Oliveras wasn’t a starter when he played for the Royals, erratic swings. Much like Suwinski, who shouldn’t even be on the major league roster.
One more strikeout and the Bucs will keep their game total double digit streak going
As of right now, not one extra base hit by Pirate hitters, yet Haines still has a job
I hope Shelton feels good about giving Gonzalez the day off. After all, arguably your most consistent player needs a day off to rest now and then especially when you are within striking distance of a wild card spot
Well they didn’t strike out in double digits but they at least managed to hit all singles
I was questioning why Cutch wasn’t in the lineup until I read he’s hitting .222 lifetime against Lynn, which surprised me. Like I said, to go into St Louis and lose 2 of 3 to the likes of Sonny Gray and Lance Lynn is sickening.
having a poor average against any pitcher doesn’t seem to matter to Shelton when he inserts Jack into the lineup.
That said, the month of June is historically when Reynolds and Hayes’ offense picks up. It’s June 13, did they forget what month it is?
Of course, we’ll have to wait to see if Gonzalez can hit Lance Lynn for later in the season
I do have a question though
You want to win this rubber game, what harm would it have done to use Gonzalez, Cutch, Davis and Joe as pinch hitters?
Oliveras wasn’t doing it, Triolo wasn’t doing it, Grandal and of course neither was Jack
And I am talking about in the 8th and 9th innings when you’re down only one run
I guess we’ll never know
Does any other team give their players scheduled days off like Shelton does?
The Cardinals didn’t give Goldschmitt, Arenado or any of their better players the day off
I just don’t understand Shelton’s logic and don’t hand me anything about analytics
This team isn’t designed for analytics, they don’t have enough talent
You’ve forgotten all the commotion he caused early on when he said he liked and wanted to emulate the Golden State Warriors style of managing a player’s minutes, including taking games off
Never mind that basketball entails continual movement while baseball entails a great deal of standing around
Flawless logic
most of the time when they are down a run going into the late innings, Shelton manages as if he doesn’t want to win
It’s like he gives up expecting the back up players to come through especially considering the starters he had played regressed from last year
Triolo, Taylor, and Jack come to mind
Olivares isn’t an every day player
Grandal, for being a good catcher, lacks the speed to beat out a grounder
Joe should have pinch hit for Rowdy
There was too many potential scenarios he left on the bench that could have tied the game
As I wrote on another thread, there is nothing in the way of player development going on here. Name one player who has come through the system and are on the verge of star status. Skenes, Jones and Bednar came ready made and don’t count
Everyone wants to blame Nutting. Or Shelton. I get it. They’re awful
But the blame for this garbage franchise starts and ends in Cherington’s office