White Sox Acquire Hard Throwing Reliever From Giants
The White Sox already have a fair share of hard-throwing relievers coming out of the bullpen with Reynaldo Lopez, Garrett Crochet, and Liam Hendriks. But it appears Rick Hahn is adding another one to the mix. According to MLB insider Robert Murray, the White Sox are acquiring right-handed reliever Gregory Santos from the San Fransisco Giants.
The Giants designated him for assignment earlier this week to open up a roster spot for new additions Sean Manaea and Carlos Correa, who eventually wound up with the Mets anyway. The club had one week to trade Santos or try and pass him through waivers, so the White Sox decided to take a flier on him. He has one year of remaining control. The return for the Giants has yet to be announced.
Santos is the #25 ranked prospect in the Giants’ farm system. The San Cristobal, DO native started his career in the Boston Red Sox organization. He came to the Giants in 2017 in a package for Eduardo Núñez to Boston. He made the Giants 40-man roster in 2020, and then his MLB debut one year later. However he was handed an 80-game suspension in June after testing positive for Stanozolol, a banned performance-enhancing drug.
Despite the hiccup, he has an intimidating presence on the mound at 6’2″ and 190 lbs. Last season he posted a 4.91 ERA in 3.2 innings of work with two strikeouts. During his 35 innings in the minor leagues, he had a 4.63 ERA with an average of 9.5 strikeouts per nine innings. Thirty-three of his innings came in Triple-A, where he had a strong 23% strikeout rate and 51.7% ground ball rate.
Santos’s biggest issue is his lack of command. His career 2.294 WHIP in the minors tells the story. He had a 16.7% walk rate during his brief MLB stints and a 13.5% mark in the minor leagues.
The 23-year-old throws a four-seam fastball that averages 98.8 mph and tops out around 102. Despite the high velocity, MLB opponents hit .286 off it last season. According to Murray, the shape of his fastball needs some work and doesn’t tunnel well with his slider, so it gets barreled up easily.
Despite the issues with his fastball, his slider is filthy. It sits around 87 mph and has just over 36 inches of vertical drop with a six-inch break. Santos has a 21.4 percent whiff rate while throwing the slider, while opponents hit just .143 off it.
Unfortunately, he is only a two-pitch pitcher so he needs to develop a third pitch to make the slider even more effective. The hope is that Ethan Katz can help him develop a two seam fastball or sinker to complement his slider.