The Mariners are getting a big arm back in the bullpen, as they announced Monday that right-hander Gregory Santos has been reinstated from the 60-day injured list. Seattle already had an open 40-man spot to accommodate the move, and righty Emerson Hancock was optioned to Triple-A Tacoma to open a spot on the active 26-man roster.
Acquired from the White Sox in an offseason trade sending outfielder Zach DeLoach, righty Prelander Berroa and a Competitive Balance (Round B) draft pick back to Chicago, Santos has yet to throw a pitch with the Mariners. The right-hander suffered a lat strain in spring training an has spent the entire year to this point on the injured list. The 24-year-old tossed a pair of shutout innings during a minor league rehab stint, fanning two of his seven opponents without issuing a walk. That was sufficient for the Mariners to activate him.
Last year with the White Sox, Santos broke out with 66 1/3 innings of 3.39 ERA ball. For a pitcher who’d been designated for assignment by the Giants and flipped to the Sox for minor league righty Kade McClure, it was an unexpected development and one of the few bright spots in an otherwise awful 2023 campaign for the ChiSox. Santos fanned a roughly average 22.8% of his opponents, turned in an outstanding 5.9% walk rate and kept the ball on the ground at a very strong 52.5% clip — all while averaging 98.8 mph on his sinker.
In acquiring Santos, the Mariners hoped to be landing five years of a premium reliever to pair with standout closer Andres Munoz and flamethrowing setup stud Matt Brash. That plan hasn’t come to fruition. Brash won’t pitch this season after undergoing Tommy John surgery in early May. Santos will make his Mariners debut in the coming days. Munoz has been excellent (1.50 ERA, 30.3% strikeout rate, 14 saves), but the setup bridge to him has been handled by spring signee Ryne Stanek, 2023 deadline acquisition Trent Thornton and offseason signee Austin Voth. Santos might not jump right into the mix as the top setup option, but he should be pitching in high-leverage spots before terribly long, so long as he remains healthy.
LETS GO FINALLY
Meanwhile, Berroa has an ERA of 0.00 this year. Instead we got damaged goods.
Berroa has faced 1 hitter on the major league level this year. Let’s pump the brakes that he will be a better pitcher long term.
marinersblue, he’s faced 2. He hit a batter
I hope you’re joking. Berroa has pitched 1/3 of an inning in the majors this year and has been awful in AAA with a 6.50 ERA.
Santos has an ERA of 0.00, too.
myaccount, touche
He’s getting shelled in AAA. Try again.
Can he hit [baseballs]?
“Trevor is waiting”…You do realize this is a Mariners post and the M’s have probably 4 or 5 better pitchers than Trevor Bauer, right? If Trevor came to the M’s he’d be switched to the bullpen and no team will take the P.R hit of Trevor Bauer for a bullpen piece.
Are we overstating this PR hit just a bit? There are players that have done worse and still have a job.
“Overstating this P.R hit”…I personally don’t think Bauer violated the law necessarily, but let’s be honest with ourselves, the guy was a team culture and P.R nightmare even before the tawdry sex assault allegations. I just think teams have concluded that Bauer is FAR more trouble than he’s worth.
I’m not sure which player’s you’re referring to but I’m guessing they are generally much better at keeping their mouth shut on twitter than Trevor Bauer. The PR hit isn’t overstated because obviously he’d be in the league if any team was willing to take it.
We are overstating it. People said the same thing about the SDSU punter then the Chiefs signed him and it was a story for like a day or two.
He doesn’t care. He is only blinded by love for Trevor.
Badly needed. Hopefully this means we won’t need to lean on Stanek so much in high leverage situations, where he’s struggled this season.
What’s even better is that we don’t need people like Cody Bolton in high leverage situations
what would be even better is if the M’s got a few competent batters so that they would not have so many high leverage situations to pitch through
Bolton has 0.0 IP in high leverage and 1.1 IP in medium leverage situations this season. Not too worried about how he’s being deployed.
Snider has 1.1 IP, Voth has 3.2 IP, Bazardo has 0 IP in high leverage this season. As easy as it feels to criticize Servais’ bullpen usage, he’s pretty much keeping guys who do not belong in high leverage situations out of them. Thornton would be the most concerning to me but he’s been remarkably good in high leverage thus far this season. But bumping Stanek down a peg is vital because he’s been much more effective when given a clean situation.
While I agree that Bauer would be a great pitching asset. Starter not reliever. Move Woo to bull pen.
But he would be a PR nightmare. Can’t imagine that Seattle brass would not do the political correct thing by passing up the option not to sign him
That said. Imagine the bobble head possibilities
I’m waiting for your mom to come down to the basement and serve you your hot pocket and mountain dew snack and cut you off from screen time personally. But I guess we all have disappointments to deal with here.
Oddly specific 😛
Lol I’m confident in the odds that this specific shoe fits our lil trevor stan here.
Now I’m just thinking of the Warcraft South Park episode. One of the best.
Lol definitely top tier episode. MOM!!!! BATHROOM!!!
Ohh that’s big boy, isn’t he?
Rememmmmber?
Ooooh I member! Member Chewbacca!?
If Trevor can hit 30 bombs and drive in 100 to close out the year?
Astros coming
I will bet you a beer Astros won’t win tonight.
Sadly enough, I fear the Mariners still lack the firepower to take advange of their great pitching. And I doubt they will spend the money to correct this. I hope I am wrong, of course.
Plus, I wonder what Lee Cousins and some others would have to say about it.
“Will spend the money”…Why do people think all you have to do in MLB is “spend the money”?…It’s more like make better trades and draft better. The M’s didn’t really “spend the money” to acquire an elite pitching staff, they drafted(and traded in some cases)them for the most part. Seattle just doesn’t seem to have the same level of expertise at drafting(or trading for)position players as they do pitchers.
@mlb fan: The current Mariners regime is actually very good at drafting and developing on both sides of the ball.
They currently have 6 hitters in the Baseball America top 100. Colt Emerson, Lazaro Montes, Cole Young, Tyler Locklear, Jonny Farmelo. and Harry Ford. All drafted under the current front office.
You are correct that they lack expertise in trading and signing position players. Part of the issue is probably the park, which is where mediocre bats go to die, and part of the issue is the budget, which constantly has them shopping or trading for mediocre bats.
@Fred you are correct on the total lack of firepower. It’s hard to watch. I doubt the Mariners will spend all the prospect capital I listed above to acquire any real talent. They can’t be shopping for more platoon bats – they need to be looking at the potential superstars that can protect Julio a bit in the lineup. Vlad, Luis Robert, maybe even Jazz Chisholm.
I don’t think they’ll make big moves and sell such a bright future of young home grown talent, but they really are wasting yet another season of healthy world series caliber starting rotation by standing pat.
“Prospects are suspects” – MLB Network’s Christopher “Mad Dog” Russo…Prospect lists are nice talking points but mean very little to me. Until you’ve done it in MLB you’re “suspect” in my mind. And the Mariner’s hitting woes go back over a decade, back to when Felix Hernandez was the resident ace.
@mlb fan- It seems that’s shifting. All 7 of our BA Top 100 prospects are batters (unless Logan Evans is one of the BA guys in which case it’s 7). It seems that we’re trending toward where we need to development-wise on offense. I’m hoping at least.
You’re right myaccount2, we do have 7 bats in the top 100. I forgot Felnin Celestin snuck in at #95. Logan Evans makes 8 Mariners in the BA100. Michael Arroyo didn’t make the cut, but I would wager he’s right there on the cusp as well.
I replied to mlb fan before seeing your comment which sparked my curiosity; however, I got distracted and forgot to double check so thanks for the clarification!
Unfortunately Fred, you’re likely correct in your prediction. I hope I’m wrong too.
Given Gregory Santos’ injury history and limited recent game action, what unconventional rituals or superstitions might the Mariners’ coaching staff consider to ensure he stays healthy and effective throughout the season?
Trades, trades and more trades- THIS. If the M’s can improve their offense, even if they just make their offense a wee bit better, just MLB average, this will take the workload off all of the late inning RPers.
The M’s have squandered so many RISP this year, it’s so hard to watch. If they can get 1-2 clutch hitters it should take the pressure off the others in the lineup. Not unlike what happened to young Kelenic- he’s a perfect example of how a good hitter can flourish when he’s not asked to save an Org (at 20 yrs old!) but I digress
If SEA can make a trade for another late inning guy, someone with experience like Sewald or even Chad Green, A Ottavino? He doesn’t necessarily have to have big game experience. A Tanner Scott or a D Bednar, get Eddie Diaz’s brother in here while you’re chatting with the Reds Dipoto! THAT is what will keep Santos from being overworked. We don’t want another “fireman” (like Matt Brash) doing the Ligament swap!
We all better worry about Santos. He wont last the 2nd half with the way “Servy” uses the pen.
And on that note A. Muñoz will be the next “fireman” in line for The Ligament Swap.
He probably has his next in line ticket in the back pocket constantly being used for more than 3 outs with a sore back.