Yankees Designate Enyel De Los Santos For Assignment
The Yankees announced today that infielder Oswald Peraza and right-hander Will Warren have been recalled to the active roster. One spot was opened by infielder/outfielder Jazz Chisholm Jr. landing on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to August 13, with a left elbow sprain. That injury and Chisholm’s expected IL placement were both previously reported. The other roster spot was opened by right-hander Enyel De Los Santos being designated for assignment. Additionally, the Yanks added that righty Lou Trivino will begin a rehab assignment with Double-A Somerset.
It’s a very quick turnaround for De Los Santos, 28, who was just acquired prior to the deadline a couple of weeks ago. The Yankees sent outfielder Brandon Lockridge to the Padres in order to acquire De Los Santos and minor league pitcher Thomas Balboni.
It seems that the buyer’s remorse set in very quickly, as things didn’t go well for De Los Santos after swapping his Padre pinstripes for the Yankee variety. After the trade, he tossed 6 1/3 innings over five appearances, allowing 10 earned runs in that time. He struck out five opponents while walking three of them.
The Yankees were rained out on Friday and played a double-header on Saturday, meaning their five starters have each pitched in the past four days. They needed Warren to come up and make a spot start today, which required a corresponding move. The only member of their bullpen that can be optioned is Jake Cousins, who has a 2.25 ERA on the season. Rather than send Cousins down, they have decided to bump De Los Santos off the 40-man roster not too long after trading for him.
Since the deadline has now passed, the Yankees will have no choice but to put De Los Santos on waivers in the coming days. Although his results have clearly been poor since coming to the Bronx, it seems likely that some other club will look beyond that and put in a claim based on his previous work.
From the start of 2022 and up until the trade, the righty actually posted some strong numbers between the Guardians and Padres. He tossed 159 1/3 innings in that time with a 3.50 ERA, 26.4% strikeout rate and 8.5% walk rate.
Meaningful roster upgrades are difficult to come by at this post-deadline part of the calendar, so a club looking for bullpen reinforcements will probably put in a claim. That might not even need to be a contending club, as De Los Santos is making just $1.16MM this year and can be retained via arbitration for two additional seasons.
Waiver priority goes in reverse order of the standings, so the teams with the worst records will have first dibs. Even a team out of contention might take a shot on De Los Santos given those two extra years of control. But if they all pass, some club in a playoff race could benefit with a fresh arm that has had some success in recent seasons, Yankee tenure notwithstanding.
Cutting bait on De Los Santos will cut into the club’s bullpen depth, but they are about to backfill some of that with Trivino. The righty underwent Tommy John surgery in May of last year and missed all of the 2023 season. He hit free agency and the Yanks re-signed him on a one-year deal with a $1.5MM guarantee and a $5MM club option for 2025, plus bonuses and escalators that kick in at 15 appearances this year.
Prior to this lengthy injury layoff, he put up some strong numbers. Most of that came with the Athletics, though he also came over to the Yankees at the 2022 deadline as part of the Frankie Montas trade. Overall, he has 284 2/3 innings under his belt with a 3.86 ERA. His 10.6% walk rate is a bit high but his 24.5% strikeout rate and 47.4% ground ball rate are both strong.
Yankees To Acquire Enyel De Los Santos
The Padres traded reliever Enyel De Los Santos and minor league pitcher Thomas Balboni Jr. to the Yankees for outfielder Brandon Lockridge, according to team announcements. The Athletic’s Chris Kirschner was first with the deal.
De Los Santos, 28, has a 4.46 ERA, 28.2 K%, 7.6 BB%, and 34.6% groundball rate in 40 1/3 innings for the Padres this year. He’s been stung by the longball, allowing 11 bombs on the season. Padres manager Mike Shildt has lost trust in De Los Santos in recent weeks, perhaps due to a 7.62 ERA over his last 14 games.
Signed for $15K by the Mariners out of the Dominican Republic a decade ago, De Los Santos was traded to the Padres in December 2015 in a deal for Joaquin Benoit. He was dealt to the Phillies a couple years later for Freddy Galvis, making his Major League debut with that team. De Los Santos went on to log big league innings with the Pirates and Guardians, with the Padres picking him up in last November’s Scott Barlow deal.
De Los Santos is earning $1.16MM this year, and was expendable for the Padres particularly after they added Jason Adam and Tanner Scott in trades. De Los Santos is under team control through 2026 as an arbitration eligible player. The Yankees supplemented their bullpen earlier today by acquiring Mark Leiter Jr. from the Cubs.
The Yankees also add Balboni, a 24-year-old A ball reliever. Balboni, drafted by the Padres in the 15th round in 2022, owns a 38.2 K% and 12.7 BB% on the season.
Lockridge, 27, was a fifth round pick by the Yankees in 2018. He’s mostly played center field this year at Triple-A, riding a strong walk rate to a 114 wRC+. Known for his speed, Lockridge also has 34 stolen bases on the season.
Guardians, Padres Swap Scott Barlow, Enyel De Los Santos
The Guardians announced they’ve acquired reliever Scott Barlow from the Padres. Fellow reliever Enyel De Los Santos is back to San Diego in a one-for-one swap. Cleveland also announced they’ve signed outfielder Ramón Laureano to a one-year contract to avoid arbitration. Zack Meisel of the Athletic reports (on X) that Laureano will make $5.15MM next season.
Barlow has spent the majority of his career in the AL Central. The right-hander reached the big leagues with the Royals in 2018. He logged five and a half seasons in Kansas City, where he was one of the game’s more quietly effective bullpen arms. Barlow turned in a sub-3.00 ERA over 74 1/3 innings in consecutive seasons from 2021-22. That excellent run prevention took a step back this year, as he carried a 5.35 mark through 38 2/3 frames at the time of the trade deadline.
The Royals swapped Barlow to San Diego last summer. While he’d been working as Kansas City’s closer, he stepped into a setup role in deference to Josh Hader at Petco Park. Barlow made 25 appearances for the Friars down the stretch, pitching to a 3.07 ERA. While Barlow was effective, he became a trade candidate yet again as rumors of payroll constraints in San Diego arose.
MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projects Barlow for a $7.1MM salary in what’ll be his final year of arbitration control. While that’s decent value for an effective reliever, the Padres are reportedly aiming to cut spending (potentially by as much as $50MM). Moving a non-closing reliever is one of the less impactful ways for San Diego to clear spending room, although it’s another hit to a bullpen that also stands to lose Hader to free agency.
It’s rare for the low-payroll Guardians to find themselves on this side of a trade of that nature. Cleveland tends to deal away players as they’re nearing free agency. The Guards jumped on the opportunity to add a high-quality reliever to join Trevor Stephan and Sam Hentges as a leverage bridge to star closer Emmanuel Clase.
To offset the loss of Barlow, San Diego brings back a more affordable short-term bullpen piece. De Los Santos had a nice 2023 campaign, pitching 70 times and working to a 3.29 ERA through 65 2/3 innings. The righty, 28 next month, had an average 23.7% strikeout rate and walked 9.5% of opposing hitters.
It was his second straight year with an ERA in the low 3.00s. Since signing a minor league deal over the 2021-22 offseason, he has turned in a 3.18 ERA over 119 frames. De Los Santos worked in mostly low-leverage situations but had pitched his way into the middle innings during his second season in Terry Francona’s bullpen.
De los Santos, who spent some time in the Padres system early in his minor league career, has between three and four years of MLB service. He will be eligible for arbitration for the next three years. Swartz forecasts him for an affordable $1.2MM this winter, meaning the deal should save San Diego roughly $6MM in the short term.
Images courtesy of USA Today Sports.
Each MLB Team’s Players On WBC Rosters
The World Baseball Classic is returning this year, the first time since 2017. The quadrennial event was supposed to take place in 2021 but was scuttled by the pandemic, now returning after a six-year absence. Rosters for the tournament were announced today and those can be found at this link. Here is a breakdown of which players from each MLB team are set to take participate. Quick caveat that this list is fluid and might be changed as more information becomes available.
Without further ado…
Angels
- Glenn Albanese Jr.
- Jaime Barria
- Gustavo Campero
- Alan Carter
- Jhonathan Diaz
- Carlos Estevez
- David Fletcher
- Jake Kalish
- D’Shawn Knowles
- Shohei Ohtani
- Jose Quijada
- Luis Rengifo
- Gerardo Reyes
- Patrick Sandoval
- Mike Trout
- Gio Urshela
- Cesar Valdez
- Zack Weiss
- Aaron Whitefield
Astros
- Bryan Abreu
- Jose Altuve
- Ronel Blanco
- Luis Garcia
- Colton Gordon
- Cristian Javier
- Martin Maldonado
- Rafael Montero
- Hector Neris
- Jeremy Pena
- Ryan Pressly
- Andre Scrubb
- Kyle Tucker
- Jose Urquidy
- Derek West
Athletics
Blue Jays
- Jose Berrios
- Jiorgeny Casimiri
- Yimi Garcia
- Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
- Spencer Horwitz
- Alejandro Kirk
- Otto Lopez
- Damiano Palmegiani
Braves
Brewers
- Willy Adames
- Sal Frelick
- Alex Hall
- Matt Hardy
- Joel Payamps
- Rowdy Tellez
- Abraham Toro
- Luis Urias
- Michele Vassalotti
- Devin Williams
Cardinals
- Nolan Arenado
- Genesis Cabrera
- Tommy Edman
- Giovanny Gallegos
- Paul Goldschmidt
- Ivan Herrera
- Matt Koperniak
- Noah Mendlinger
- Oscar Mercado
- Miles Mikolas
- Lars Nootbaar
- Tyler O’Neill
- JoJo Romero
- Adam Wainwright
- Guillermo Zuniga
Cubs
- Javier Assad
- Owen Caissie
- Danis Correa
- Ben DeLuzio
- Roenis Elias
- Miles Mastrobuoni
- Matt Mervis
- B.J. Murray Jr.
- Vinny Nittoli
- Fabian Pertuz
- Liam Spence
- Seiya Suzuki
- Marcus Stroman
- Pedro Strop
- Nelson Velazquez
- Jared Young
Diamondbacks
- Dominic Fletcher
- Jakob Goldfarb
- Gunnar Groen
- Merrill Kelly
- Ketel Marte
- Eric Mendez
- Dominic Miroglio
- Emmanuel Rivera
- Jacob Steinmetz
- Mitchell Stumpo
- Alek Thomas
Dodgers
- Austin Barnes
- Mookie Betts
- Freddie Freeman
- Clayton Kershaw
- Adam Kolarek
- Miguel Rojas
- Will Smith
- Trayce Thompson
- Julio Urias
Giants
Guardians
- Enyel De Los Santos
- Dayan Frias
- Andres Gimenez
- Bo Naylor
- Richie Palacios
- Cal Quantrill
- Cade Smith
- Meibrys Viloria
- Josh Wolf
Marlins
Mariners
- Matt Brash
- Diego Castillo
- Matt Festa
- Harry Ford
- Teoscar Hernandez
- Milkar Perez
- Julio Rodriguez
- Eugenio Suarez
- Blake Townsend
Mets
- Pete Alonso
- Jonathan Arauz
- Edwin Diaz
- Eduardo Escobar
- Dominic Hamel
- Elieser Hernandez
- Francisco Lindor
- Jeff McNeil
- Omar Narvaez
- Cam Opp
- Adam Ottavino
- Jose Quintana
- Brooks Raley
- Claudio Scotti
Nationals
Orioles
Padres
- Xander Bogaerts
- Nabil Crismatt
- Nelson Cruz
- Jarryd Dale
- Yu Darvish
- Jose Espada
- Ruben Galindo
- Luis Garcia
- Ha-Seong Kim
- Manny Machado
- Nick Martinez
- Evan Mendoza
- Juan Soto
- Brett Sullivan
- Julio Teheran
Phillies
- Jose Alvarado
- Erubiel Armenta
- Malik Binns
- Jaydenn Estanista
- Vito Friscia
- Brian Marconi
- J.T. Realmuto
- Kyle Schwarber
- Noah Skirrow
- Gregory Soto
- Garrett Stubbs
- Ranger Suarez
- Trea Turner
- Taijuan Walker
- Rixon Wingrove
Pirates
- David Bednar
- Tsung-Che Cheng
- Roansy Contreras
- Alessandro Ercolani
- Santiago Florez
- Jarlin Garcia
- Antwone Kelly
- Josh Palacios
- Jeffrey Passantino
- Tahnaj Thomas
- Duane Underwood Jr.
- Chavez Young
- Rob Zastryzny
Rangers
Rays
- Jason Adam
- Jonathan Aranda
- Randy Arozarena
- Christian Bethancourt
- Trevor Brigden
- Wander Franco
- Andrew Gross
- Joe LaSorsa
- Francisco Mejia
- Isaac Paredes
- Harold Ramirez
- Graham Spraker
Red Sox
- Jorge Alfaro
- Richard Bleier
- Rafael Devers
- Jarren Duran
- Ian Gibaut
- Rio Gomez
- Norwith Gudino
- Enrique Hernandez
- Nick Pivetta
- Henry Ramos
- Alex Verdugo
- Masataka Yoshida
Reds
- Donovan Benoit
- Silvino Bracho
- Luis Cessa
- Fernando Cruz
- Alexis Diaz
- Arij Fransen
- Kyle Glogoski
- Tayron Guerrero
- Evan Kravetz
- Nicolo Pinazzi
- Reiver Sanmartin
- Vin Timpanelli
Rockies
- Daniel Bard
- Jake Bird
- Yonathan Daza
- Elias Diaz
- Kyle Freeland
- Justin Lawrence
- German Marquez
- Michael Petersen
- Alan Trejo
Royals
- Max Castillo
- Robbie Glendinning
- Carlos Hernandez
- Nicky Lopez
- MJ Melendez
- Vinnie Pasquantino
- Salvador Perez
- Brady Singer
- Bobby Witt Jr.
- Angel Zerpa
Tigers
- Javier Baez
- Miguel Cabrera
- Chavez Fernander
- Andy Ibanez
- Jack O’Loughlin
- Jacob Robson
- Eduardo Rodriguez
- Jonathan Schoop
- John Valente
Twins
- Jose De Leon
- Edouard Julien
- Jorge Lopez
- Pablo Lopez
- Carlos Luna
- Jose Miranda
- Jovani Moran
- Emilio Pagan
- Christian Vazquez
White Sox
- Tim Anderson
- Kendall Graveman
- Eloy Jimenez
- Lance Lynn
- Yoan Moncada
- Nicholas Padilla
- Luis Robert
- Jose Ruiz
Yankees
Guardians Select Kirk McCarty
Prior to yesterday’s contest with the Blue Jays, the Guardians selected left-hander Kirk McCarty onto the major league roster. It’s the second time this season that Cleveland has selected him, although this stint on the 40-man figures to last longer than his prior stay.
McCarty’s first big league call came in April as the Guardians were battling COVID-19 issues. Selected as a designated substitute player, he spent five days on the roster and made one appearance. McCarty worked three innings of four-run ball in mop-up work against the Yankees on April 24, and Cleveland eventually returned him to Triple-A Columbus. Because he’d been selected as a COVID replacement, he was taken back off the 40-man roster without passing through waivers.
This time around, McCarty’s promotion is more typical. He’s not coming up in response to any virus concerns, and Cleveland would need to run him through waivers to take him off the 40-man again. That the 26-year-old has earned a seemingly more lasting roster spot is a testament to his strong start in Columbus. McCarty has tossed 16 2/3 frames of two-run ball over four appearances at the minors’ top level, striking out 15 batters against six walks.
In a corresponding move, Cleveland reassigned righty Enyel de los Santos to Columbus. Also originally selected as a COVID replacement, de los Santos made six appearances in relief. He punched out nine of the 26 opponents he faced and averaged north of 96 MPH on his fastball, but he also issued five walks and hit a batter.
Guardians Announce Several Roster Moves
11:20am: Mandy Bell of MLB.com relays word from manager Terry Francona, who confirms that Quantrill, Miller and Castro are on the Covid-IL. Zack Meisel of The Athletic provides a quote from Francona, who says “I don’t know that we’re out of the woods yet. I hope we are, but I don’t know that that’s going to be the case. We’ll see.”
10:45am: The Guardians announced a series of transactions prior to today’s doubleheader against the White Sox, placing right-hander Cal Quantrill, infielder Owen Miller and righty Anthony Castro on the injured list. No designation was provided, likely indicating that all three are being placed on the Covid-related IL. In their place, Cleveland has selected the contracts of right-hander Enyel De Los Santos and lefties Kirk McCarty and Tanner Tully. Additionally, top shortstop prospect Gabriel Arias is up as the 29th man for today’s twin bill — as first reported last night by Andrea Alejandra Gil of Brujula Deportiva 106.3 FM in Maracay, Venezuela (Twitter link).
It’s not clear whether any of the players placed on the injured list today tested positive or have been deemed close contacts and thus require testing that leaves them unavailable for today’s games. The 2022 health and safety protocols jointly agreed upon by MLB and the MLBPA technically call for a 10-day absence for players who test positive, but players are able to return more quickly than that — provided they receive a pair of negative PCR tests, show no signs of fever and are then subsequently approved by a team medical staffer and a joint committee of one MLB-appointed and one MLBPA-appointed medical expert. Mets outfielder Brandon Nimmo, for instance, returned to the team in less than half that 10-day window.
Of the players added to the big league roster today, only De Los Santos has prior MLB experience. A well-regarded prospect during his time with the Padres and the Phillies, De Los Santos debuted with Philadelphia in 2018 but has yet to carry his strong Triple-A production over to the big league level. He’s seen action in parts of three MLB seasons but carries a 6.06 ERA in 65 1/3 innings. De Los Santos has fanned 24% of his opponents against a 10% walk rate, but he’s also yielded an average of 1.9 homers per nine frames — far too many to succeed over any lengthy sample. He’s fared vastly better in Triple-A, where he sports a career 3.37 ERA in 237 2/3 innings and just 1.1 HR/9.
The 27-year-old Tully, meanwhile, was a 26th-rounder back in 2015 who posted a 3.50 ERA in 113 innings between Double-A and Triple-A last year. He’s never posted particularly high strikeout or ground-ball rates, but Tully has walked only 4.5% of the hitters he’s faced in his pro career.
McCarty, 26, was Cleveland’s seventh-rounder back in 2017 and has gotten out to a fast start in Triple-A Columbus, holding opponents to one run on seven hits and five walks with a dozen punchouts through 11 1/3 innings. He was knocked around for a 5.01 ERA in 124 Triple-A frames a year ago.
As for Arias, the 22-year-old infielder is regarded as a potential key piece down the line for the Guardians. Acquired from the Padres (alongside Miller and Quantrill) in the trade that sent Mike Clevinger to San Diego, Arias entered the season ranked among the game’s top 100 prospects at Baseball America (No. 100), MLB.com (No. 73), Baseball Prospectus (No. 57), FanGraphs (No. 95) and ESPN (No. 73).
Arias hit .284/.348/.454 with 13 home runs, 29 doubles, three triples and five steals in 483 trips to the plate last season, and he’s out to a near-identical start in 2022, hitting .278/.350/.472 in 40 plate appearances. He’s starting at second base in Game 1 of today’s doubleheader.
In all likelihood, it’ll be a one-day look for the highly touted Arias, but he’ll give Cleveland fans a brief glimpse of the future. The fact that he’s both on the 40-man roster and being considered for roles like this speak to his general proximity to MLB readiness, and it wouldn’t be a surprise at all if he were to get a lengthier audition at some point in 2022. Amed Rosario and Andres Gimenez are getting a good portion of the middle-infield time early in the season, but Rosario has at least some outfield experience and, of course, injuries are inevitable over the course of a 162-game schedule. Arias is one of many high-end middle infield prospects in the upper levels of the Cleveland system; Brayan Rocchio, Tyler Freeman and Jose Tena, among others, have all received a good bit of fanfare.
Guardians Sign Enyel De Los Santos
The Cleveland Guardians announced that they’ve signed free agent pitcher Enyel De Los Santos to a minor league contract with an invitation to Spring Training. The right-hander appeared in 33 games last season, splitting time with both Pennsylvania teams after Pittsburgh claimed him off waivers from the Phillies. He was subsequently outrighted off the Pirates’ roster in November and elected free agency shortly thereafter.
The 25-year-old pitched to a 6.37 ERA in 2021, demonstrating shaky control and a propensity to give up the long ball. These numbers align with his previous Major League performance, as De Los Santos was rocked in limited action with the Phils in both 2018 and 2019.
While Guardians fans may roll their eyes at this relatively modest signing, it’s not hard to see why a team would take a shot at harnessing the former Phillie’s stuff. The right-hander was a minor leaguer of some note not too long ago, participating in the 2018 Futures game and generally excelling as a starter through the Triple-A level. While his big league work out of the bullpen has left something to be desired, De Los Santos was able to post a gaudy 30.7% strikeout rate last season with Philadelphia. The newfound strikeout ability tailed off after the trade, but a second half fade was common for many pitchers after a bizarre 2020 season.
Pirates Outright Seven, Chasen Shreve Elects Free Agency
The Pirates announced a slew of roster moves today, outrighting seven players off the 40-man roster, per the team. Pitchers Chase De Jong, Enyel De Los Santos, Kyle Keller, Connor Overton, Chasen Shreve, and Shea Spitzbarth have all been outrighted to Triple-A. Infielder Wilmer Difo was also outrighted to Triple-A.
Shreve has elected free agency, per Jason Mackey of PGSportsNow (via Twitter).The 31-year-old southpaw posted a 3.20 ERA/4.73 FIP across 57 appearances out of the bullpen. Shreve has suited up for the Braves, Yankees, Cardinals, Mets, and Pirates over an eight-year career.
The Pirates also added a number of players to the 40-man roster, returning most from the 60-day injured list. Steven Brault, Blake Cederlind, Dillon Peters, Jose Soriano, Duane Underwood Jr., and Bryse Wilson are all now on the 40-man roster.
Pirates Claim Enyel De Los Santos
The Pirates have claimed right-hander Enyel De Los Santos off waivers from the Phillies, per a team announcement. Lefty Steven Brault was placed on the 60-day injured list in order to open a spot on the 40-man roster. Brault left his most recent appearance with tightness in his arm and was placed on the 10-day IL with a lat strain. The Pirates did not provide any update beyond the 60-day IL transfer, which will formally end Brault’s season.
De Los Santos, 25, was once a well-regarded prospect in both the Padres’ and the Phillies’ farm systems. San Diego sent him to Philadelphia in the Dec. 2017 trade that brought Freddy Galvis to the Padres. He appeared in the Futures Game for the Phillies the following season and made his big league debut that summer. Santos appeared in seven games that year, starting two of them, and pitched well outside of one poor outing. Overall, he notched a 4.74 ERA that season through his first 19 MLB frames — plenty respectable for a 22-year-old rookie.
Things haven’t gone as hoped for De Los Santos since that time, however, He’s pitched to a 6.92 ERA in 39 subsequent MLB frames, and while he’d been borderline dominant with Triple-A Lehigh Valley in 2018,he served up a 4.40 ERA at that same level the following year. De Los Santos has previously been designated for assignment and gone unclaimed on waivers, but the Pirates scooped him up with the No. 3 waiver priority this time around. The Orioles and D-backs passed on claiming De Los Santos.
Part of the reason for the newfound interest could simply be one of having a straightforward path to making room for De Los Santos, but his work on the field this season is also somewhat intriguing. Granted, a 6.75 ERA in 28 frames isn’t much to look at, but De Los Santos’ 95 mph average heater is a career-best mark in the Majors. He’s also punched out 30.7 percent of his opponents, logged a very strong 14.9 percent swinging-strike rate and induced chases on pitches outside the strike zone at a 33.9 percent clip — all career-highs. Opponents have swung at De Los Santos’ pitches a career-high 54.2 percent of the time and made contact a career-low 72.2 percent of the time.
If he survives the offseason and Spring Training on the Pirates’ roster, De Los Santos will need to break camp with the club or else once again be designated for assignment (or traded). He’ll be out of minor league options in 2022, so he won’t be able to be sent down without first clearing waivers. And at that point, even if he were to go unclaimed, he’d have the option of electing free agency by virtue of the fact that he’s previously been outrighted once in the past.
As for Brault, he’ll look to get back to good health and put behind him what has been a largely nightmarish season. Brault missed most of the season with a strained lat and made just seven appearances before going back on the injured list with a recurrence. He posted a 5.86 ERA in 27 2/3 innings while battling that pair of injuries.
That said, Brault has been a largely serviceable long reliever/fifth starter for the Buccos over the past several seasons, including a strong showing in 2020 when he posted 42 2/3 innings of 3.38 ERA ball. The 29-year-old carries a 4.68 ERA in 315 2/3 innings and will be arbitration-eligible for the second time this winter. Brault’s strong 2020 resulted in a $2.05MM salary on his first trip through the arbitration process, and he’s unlikely to see much of a raise this winter thanks to the limited workload he compiled. Pittsburgh controls him through the 2023 season.
Phillies Designate Enyel De Los Santos
The Phillies announced that right-hander Enyel De Los Santos has been designated for assignment. The move creates roster space for catcher Andrew Knapp‘s activation off the COVID-related injury list, and catcher Rafael Marchan has also been optioned to Triple-A.
De Los Santos has been shuttled up and down between the Phillies’ roster and Triple-A Lehigh Valley multiple times this season, with the righty posting a 6.75 ERA and a strong 30.7% strikeout rate over 28 innings out of Philadelphia’s bullpen. While his strikeout totals have increased by leaps and bounds this season at both the MLB and minor league levels, home runs have continued to plague De Los Santos in the big leagues. Since the start of the 2019 season, De Los Santos has allowed 11 homers in only 39 innings pitched for the Phils.
This marks the second time in as many seasons that the Phillies have designated De Los Santos, and he was able to clear waivers last year before being outrighted off the 40-man roster. De Los Santos is only 25 years old, so another team might be interested in taking a late-season flier to bring him into their organization, particularly with his improved strikeout numbers. De Los Santos whiffed 66 of 184 batters faced in Triple-A and the majors this season, good for a very impressive 35.9% strikeout rate.