The Astros have signed right-hander Enyel De Los Santos to a major league deal. Fellow righty Nick Hernandez has been optioned to Triple-A Sugar Land in a corresponding active roster move. Righty Luis Contreras has been designated for assignment to open a 40-man spot. Chandler Rome of The Athletic was among those to relay the moves.
De Los Santos, 29, was designated for assignment by Atlanta just over a week ago. He had signed a minor league deal with that club in the winter and cracked the Opening Day roster. He tossed 43 2/3 innings this year with a 4.53 earned run average, 20.1% strikeout rate and 9.5% walk rate.
Thanks to those lackluster results and his out-of-options status, he was bumped off the roster when Atlanta acquired Tyler Kinley from the Rockies. According to De Los Santos’ transactions tracker at MLB.com, he cleared waivers and elected free agency.
The Astros presumably feel there’s a way to get the righty back on track to his pre-2024 form. With Cleveland in 2022 and 2023, he tossed 119 innings with a 3.18 ERA, 25.8% strikeout rate and 8.8% walk rate. He earned one save and 19 holds in that span.
Last year, he bounced around the league and posted a combined 5.20 ERA for three different clubs, mostly due to a massive home run spike. He had allowed 21 home runs in his career from 2018 to 2023 but then allowed 17 in 2024 alone. Those struggles led him to be non-tendered by the White Sox, which allowed Atlanta to scoop him up on a minor league deal.
Houston will try to help him correct course. He is out of options, as mentioned, so his grip on a roster spot may be tenuous. However, if things go well and he sticks around through the end of the year, he could be retained for 2026 via arbitration.
Contreras, 29, signed a minor league deal with the Astros ahead of the 2024 season and was added to their 40-man roster in June of last year. He has served as an optionable depth arm for the Astros since then, tossing 18 big league innings with a 7.50 ERA.
His minor league work has declined this year, relative to 2024. Last year, he logged 46 2/3 Triple-A innings with a 1.74 ERA, 27.8% strikeout rate and 11.1% walk rate. This year’s 3.34 ERA doesn’t look awful, especially in the context of the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League, but his 21.4% strikeout rate and 15.1% walk rate are both far worse than last year. He’s benefited from a .253 batting average on balls in play and 3.4% home run to fly ball rate.
With the trade deadline having passed, the Astros will have to put Contreras on waivers in the coming days. He is still optionable and has less than a year of service time, so perhaps he could appeal to a club looking for some cheap pitching depth.
Photo courtesy of Jerome Miron, Imagn Images
Braves say Good Luck with Bullpen ERA.
It’s going UP^!
Sick
He’s got good stuff, but I feel like every time I saw him at Petco he was serving up meatballs. I’ll be curious to see if he can keep the ball down in Houston.
Padres fans, do you remember all the people that were mad when Preller traded DLS to the Phillies for Freddy Galvis back in 2017 when he was still a prospect? I think I was one of them.
Why does 2017 feel like it was 20 years ago?
At the beginning of the season it seemed like the Braves had struck gold. But soon he started hanging sliders and getting hit hard. He didn’t completely lose it, but was way to inconsistent.
@Pads Fans
You have me muted for some reason, but if your name on here use to be “AndThisGameBelongsToMySanDiegoPadres” :
Then you definitely had a meltdown in the comment section under that post. Super funny to look back on
I wouldn’t put it past the Astros to fix this guy. He wouldn’t be their first
We have a pretty good car wash for pitchers.
Enjoy! So glad I don’t see this dude trot out to the bump and get blown up without getting an out.
His career HRs allowed numbers are…. interesting. Some years he barely allows any. Other years he’s the designated HR Derby tosser.
Time for Enyel to get some revenge on the Yankees this weekend for making him shave off his beard last season.