Pirates A to Z: Yerry De Los Santos showed he could handle high-leverage relief situations

During the offseason, the Tribune-Review will offer Pirates A to Z: An alphabetical, player-by-player look at the 40-man roster, from outfielder Miguel Andujar to pitcher Miguel Yajure.

Player: Yerry De Los Santos

Position: Pitcher

Throws: Right

Age: 24 (Dec. 12)

Height: 6-foot-2

Weight: 215 pounds

2022 MLB statistics: Went 0-3 with a 4.91 ERA and 1.29 WHIP and three saves, 26 strikeouts and 11 walks in 25 2/3 innings pitched over 26 appearances.

Contract: Pre-arbitration eligible.

Acquired: Signed as an international free agent for $100,000 in July 2014.

This past season: De Los Santos started his season with a no-hitter but ended it on the injured list. In between, the right-handed reliever made his major league debut and showed he could handle a high-leverage role.

De Los Santos pitched a perfect ninth inning for the Triple-A Indianapolis Indians to complete a combined no-hitter with Chase De Jong and Austin Brice at St. Paul on April 13. De Los Santos was efficient in throwing seven of his 11 pitches for strikes, getting a lineout for the first out, then the next two batters looking at called third strikes.

THE FIRST NO-HITTER OF THE SEASON BELONGS TO THE @indyindians!@Pirates Chase De Jong, Austin Brice and Yerry De Los Santos combine for the gem. pic.twitter.com/MP3ue7SyCR

— Minor League Baseball (@MiLB) April 14, 2022

A month later, the Pirates selected his contract.

At the time of his call-up, De Los Santos was 2-0 with a 1.72 ERA and 0.64 WHIP and three saves. He had 20 strikeouts and two walks in 15 2/3 innings over 12 appearances and was holding batters to a .148 average.

“He’s throwing the ball in Indy,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said. “The sinker is a really good pitch that we like. We’ve extended him over his last few outings to pitch multiple innings. It was at the point he deserved to be in the big leagues.”

Pirates GM Ben Cherington on the factors behind the decisions to promote young prospects like Roansy Contreras, Yerry De Los Santos and Cal Mitchell. pic.twitter.com/ARUHjmuR7G

— Kevin Gorman (@KevinGormanPGH) May 25, 2022

De Los Santos made an impressive debut, striking out the first batter he faced, Brian Serven. De Los Santos gave up a single to Connor Joe, then got Yonathan Daza to ground into a forceout. After allowing Daza to reach third on defensive indifference and walking Charlie Blackmon, De Los Santos got C.J. Cron swinging for the final out in a 10-5 win.

“I thought he did a nice job,” Shelton said. “Major league debut and in the last inning he had to go through the heart of their order. The fastball came out nice. We saw the sinker. He was able to execute breaking balls. Had some guys on base but I don’t think he got sped up at all, which is good to see. He didn’t worry about it.”

De Los Santos moved from a multi-inning role to pitching in high-leverage situations, and had a 3.51 ERA with 26 strikeouts and eight walks in 25 2/3 innings before his disastrous final outing.

In a 9-3 loss at Arizona on Aug. 11, De Los Santos gave up four runs on two hits and three walks without retiring any of the five batters he faced.

De Los Santos told the Pirates that although he didn’t pitch in pain, he felt a tugging on his right side. Shelton appreciated how forthright De Los Santos was about the discomfort. Two days later, De Los Santos was placed on the 60-day injured list with a right shoulder latissimus muscle strain. With 54 games remaining, that ended his season.

“It’s unfortunate, because he’s come up and he’s done a really good job for us,” Shelton said. “I think we saw him grow from the time that he joined us. We saw so many positive things, and when we talked to him, those were the things we highlighted. Those were the things we want him to go into the winter on.”

Yerry De Los Santos, Filth. ???? pic.twitter.com/OXwE8u7Pbq

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) August 3, 2022

The future: De Los Santos relies primarily on two pitches, a 95-mph sinker against which opponents batted .185 and a slider that drew a 34.1% whiff rate.

Because of his sinker-slider combination, Pirates bullpen coach Justin Meccage said they will keep close track of how De Los Santos fares against left-handed hitters after they slashed .214/.327/.429 against him in 24 games last season.

“It seems like, in a short sample size, that was a productive thing,” Meccage said. “That’s just something to keep an eye on, with any sinker-slider guy, how they handle left-handed hitters.”

Opponents hit .304 (7 for 23) against De Los Santos in save situations but none of them were extra-base hits, and he impressed the Pirates with his composure under pressure.

“Mentally, that guy slows the game down really well for a young guy,” Meccage said. “You would never know if things are going well or not well. That’s an important characteristic of a reliever. We’re really excited about what he’s going to do going forward, getting his health under control and we’ll be in a good spot going into next year.”