Braves sign Enyel De Los Santos to Minor League deal

Earlier this month, the Braves signed a reliever Enyel De Los Santos to a minor league deal, according to his transaction log on MLB.com. The right-hander went undrafted by the White Sox earlier this offseason.

De Los Santos struggled during his first three MLB seasons with the Phillies and Pirates before debuting with the Guardians in 2022. He went 5-0 in 50 games, pitching to a 3.04 ERA and a 2 SIERA, 98. He earned his first career save that summer and made his postseason debut that fall. The right-hander took on a larger role in Cleveland’s bullpen the following season, pitching in 70 games (65 2/3 innings) and often entering spots with higher leverage than the year before. His strikeout rate went down, his walk rate went up, and his overall numbers weren’t as impressive (3.29 ERA, 4.06 SIERA). However, it was a solid season and another step for De Los Santos towards establishing himself as a reliable reliever.

During the 2023-24 offseason, the Guardians traded De Los Santos to the Padres in exchange for Scott Barlow. It was a somewhat surprising move for the Guardians, who are typically the ones to trade veteran pitchers on expiring contracts for younger, cheaper arms, not the other way around. Ultimately, the trade didn’t work out for either side. Cleveland released Barlow in September amid a rocky second half. Meanwhile, De Los Santos ended up pitching for three different teams and struggled in various ways with all of them. After a disappointing start with the Padres, he found himself headed to the Yankees before the trade deadline. New York designated him for assignment a few weeks later and he finished the season with the White Sox. Overall, he put up a 5.20 ERA in 64 innings of work, although his 3.86 SIERA looks much more promising.

There is no doubt that the 2024 season has been tough for De Los Santos. However, there is still a lot to like about his arm. For one thing, he has young people on his side; he will turn 29 tomorrow, Christmas Day. Furthermore, he never entered the injured list. As for his production, from 2022-23, he pitched 119 innings with a 3.18 ERA and 3.57 SIERA. This type of mid-inning performance would improve any contending team’s bullpen. Furthermore, De Los Santos had excellent underlying numbers in his first 44 games with San Diego before being traded. His strikeout and walk rates were at 2022 levels, and his mediocre ERA of 4.46 was more than a full run higher than his SIERA of 3.21 pounds. His numbers took a turn for the worse after the trade deadline, but that’s a relatively small sample size to work with. There’s no need to worry that the version of De Los Santos who can be a durable, high-strikeout pitcher is gone forever.

So, the Braves are betting on that upside by signing De Los Santos to a minor league deal and presumably inviting the right-hander to big league camp. Atlanta had one of the best bullpens in the league in 2024, but there are still some spots on the back end that should be up for grabs this spring.