Pittsburgh Pirates: Potential Rule 5 Draft Selection

The Pittsburgh Pirates hold the top pick in next month’s Rule 5 Draft and a pitcher that was left unprotected could be worth rolling the dice on

As of now, the 2020 MLB Winter Meetings are set to take place virtually. As is the case every year, part of the meetings will be the Rule 5 Draft. The first pick in this year’s Rule 5 Draft belongs to the Pittsburgh Pirates. It is important to not though that the Pirates, nor any other team, have to make a selection with their pick in the Rule 5 Draft.

On Friday, the Pittsburgh Pirates designated Trevor Williams and Jose Osuna for assignment. This was done in order to protect infield prospect Rodolfo Castro and pitching prospect Max Kranick from the Rule 5 Draft. So intriguing prospects, however, were left unprotected.

One intriguing prospect that was left unprotected was pitcher Enyel De Los Santos. The Phillie prospect is a hard-throwing righty who could be a quality MLB reliever. This could make him a player the Pittsburgh Pirates may be interested in selecting with the top pick in the Rule 5 Draft.

Between 2018 and 2019, De Los Santos pitched 30 MLB innings for the Phillies in 12 games (3 starts). De Los Santos posted a 5.70 ERA, 5.58 FIP, 10.2% walk rate, and a. 18.9% strikeout rate in these 30 innings.

In his limited MLB time, De Los Santos has done a nice jon limiting quality contact. De Los Santos allowed hard contact just 29.2% of time and limited opposing batters to an average exit velocity of just 88.1 MPH. Both of these numbers are better than league average.

The overall numbers of De Los Santos leave a lot to be desired, obviously. However, he has the stuff to be a good MLB reliever. This includes a power fastball that can reach 99 MPH. At the MLB level he has also thrown a change up, slider and a curveball. That said, his best bet moving forward appears to be to use a fastball/change up combo.

His biggest issue has always been his control. If Pirate pitching coach Oscar Marin believes he can help De Los Santos improve his control, then the Pirates just may be interested in the hard throwing righty.

Entering the 2021 season there is a lot of question marks around the Pirate bullpen. Chris Stratton and Blake Cederlind appear to be locks for the Opening Day bullpen. The same goes for Richard Rodriguez, unless he is traded. A Rodriguez trade, however, appears very possible. So, there is certianly opportunities to be had for De Los Santos in the Pirate bullpen.

When the Rule 5 Draft rolls around next month, De Los Santos will be a name worht monitoring for Pirate fans. If the team does decide to select a player with the top pick, it would not be a surprise to see that player be De Los Santos.