Pittsburgh Pirates: Non-Roster Invitees Who Could Make the Team

RHP Yerry De Los Santos

If Cody Bolton doesn’t break camp with the team to fill out the bullpen, then Yerry De Los Santos has a good chance of doing so. De Los Santos has posted some impressive numbers since moving to the bullpen, becoming one of the more underrated relief pitching prospects in the system.

Last season, De Los Santos only pitched 23.3 innings, but they were quality innings. The right-hander had a 1.52 ERA, .0.85 WHIP, and 3.86 FIP. De Los Santos had a healthy 27.6% strikeout rate, 7.2% walk rate, and strong .76 HR/9. The relief prospect was a ground ball machine, inducing ground balls at a 54.5% rate while only allowing line drives 9.1% of the time.

De Los Santos throws a mid-to-upper-90’s four-seam fastball. He also throws an above-average slider that comes in with 2400 RPM. Although he fits the typical reliever mold, he’s posted quality results since moving to the bullpen full-time.

He’s mostly served as a late-inning arm the last two seasons, so he might be an under-the-radar future set-up man option for the Pirates. Right now, many of the Pirates’ best relief prospects like Justin Meis, Tyler Samaniego, and Enmanuel Mejia haven’t played above High-A yet. This could allow De Los Santos to secure a late-inning role for the potential long-term.