Rule 5 Draft Prospect Profile: Yerry De Los Santos
While many people focus on the Major League portion of the Rule 5 Draft, every year several players end up getting taken as part of the Minor League Rule 5 Draft. Thousands of young and talented players switch between teams in hopes of finding their path to the Big Leagues one day. For Pirates prospect Yerry de Los Santos, he has already cracked the Pirate's top 30 prospect list at the age of 22 and has risen from a 17-year-old pitching prospect in the Dominican Summer League to a modified starter in Low-A Baseball last season. De Los Santos is a young pitcher with a lively arm, which could make him enticing to another team looking to add depth to their Minor League system.
He saw the biggest workload in his career coming out of the bullpen in 2019 and put up the best numbers he has ever produced. He came to the Pirates from Samana, Dominican Republic and injuries kept him in the Rookie leagues between the Gulf Coast League and Dominican Summer League during his first four years of his professional career. He is now showing an ability to turn into a top prospect in the Pirates system, currently falling just short of the Pirate's top 30 prospects list. He has a fastball that can reach triple digits at times and he uses it to blow pitches by the competition. This is the first year he is eligible for the Rule 5 Draft and the Pirates are judging whether or not he is an asset that needs protected.
Young Fireballer
Growing up in Samana, Dominican Republic, De Los Santos always had a lively arm from the time he picked up a baseball. It was his triple-digit heat that caught the attention of most big-league scouts. The Pirates ended up signing him at 17-years old and he got to play professional baseball in his home country. He pitched with the Dominican Summer League Pirates in 2015 and had a rough transition going 1-5 with a 4.73 ERA in 59 innings of work. He walked just 17 batters but struck out only 28 as he couldn't get the ball by his peers. The youngster also dealt with arm and shoulder problems throughout his career and required Tommy John Surgery, causing him to miss the entire 2016 season.
When he returned in 2017, the Pirates decided to ease De Los Santos back into action and limited his innings upon his return. He appeared in just five games last season and pitched to a 1.04 ERA in 8.2 innings of work. He began to struggle to find the strike zone walking three batters and striking out just four. However, he was missing more bats than ever with an opponent batting average of .226. He would traverse three levels of rookie ball in 2018 pitching for the DSL Pirates, GCL Pirates, and Bristol Pirates. Again, shoulder problems limited him and he only appeared in seven games between the three levels of rookie ball.
With De Los Santos entering his fifth season of professional baseball, it was time to see if the Pirates had something in him. The team advanced De Los Santos to Class Low-A Greensboro for his first full-season baseball. He ended up putting together his best season of professional baseball yet. He made the full-time move to the bullpen and went 4-2 with a 1.44 ERA in 50 innings of work. He slipped into the closer's role for the Grasshoppers and was a perfect 13-13 in save opportunities. Pitching in those late-game situations allowed him to use his triple-digit heat more effectively. His opponent batting average dropped to .183 and he struck out 73 batters in 50 innings of work. Now that he is a full-time reliever, he doesn't have to worry about saving himself for later in the game and can just pitch his game.
Reliever of the Future
Entering the 2021 season, De Los Santos will be just 23-years-old and more than likely will see time with the Bradenton Marauders. Given his injury history and his age, I don't see any team going all-in and signing the young reliever in the Major League portion of the Rule 5 Draft. However, where the Pirates may need to protect De Los Santos is in the Minor League portion of the draft. This means the Pirates would have to add De Los Santos to the 38-man Triple-A roster prior to the December 11th trade deadline. A young reliever with a fastball that can reach 100 miles per hour is a valuable asset to any Minor League system.
He does not have to stay with Triple-A the entire season, and the Pirates can move him to any level of the Minor Leagues after the draft is over. If the Pirates do decide to protect him, he will more than likely join the Bradenton Marauder bullpen in 2021. He is another in a long line of talented back-end relievers the Pirates are developing, and he could be turning into a possible closer of the future. He just needs to work on his control and focus on using his fastball to the best of his ability. It is his primary pitch and hitting triple digits is just a start to him becoming a Major League caliber lights out reliever.
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