Red Sox starting pitching prospect Victor Santos
Boston’s already made a few additions this offseason when it comes to pitching. Michael Wacha was brought on to fight for a spot. James Paxton and Rich Hill were added and should play big roles.
That being said, Paxton is trying to come back from an injury and Hill will be 42 next year. He’s been winning the battle against Father Time when it comes to stats. But he also hasn’t pitched much in a few of his most recent seasons. It feels like it’s only a matter of time before not only does that become an issue, but the numbers start to sour.
So what happens if the Red Sox find themselves in trouble with injuries and poor play from the pitching staff midway through the season? Of course they can make trades. But with injuries it tends to be call-ups more than anything. So a few pitchers could get a shot in 2022.
A newer face to Boston is Victor Santos. He was traded to the team last season as the “player to be named later” in the C.J. Chatham deal with the Philadelphia Phillies.
I love Chatham and think he has a lot of potential to be a good Major League player, especially offensively. But getting Santos as a PTBNL in the deal was pretty wild and unexpected.
In 45 1/3 innings pitched for Portland (Double-A), Santos posted a 2.58 ERA. The right-handed pitcher had a .240 BAA and 1.08 WHIP as well. Most impressively, he struck out 45 batters in that time while only walking six.
The craziest part is that Santos is only 21. And counting his time with Philadelphia, he had 66 innings pitched in Double-A last season. He’ll likely start the year there, but with a chance to get a promotion to Triple-A pretty quickly.
Once in Triple-A, it will feel like Santos is just an injury away from being called to the show. In fact, he could get promoted from Double-A. But as he’s not exactly considered an “elite” prospect, it feels unlikely that Boston will want to rush him.
This won’t be an early-season thing. He’ll be given at least a month in Double-A. From there they’ll want to test him out in Triple-A before even considering a move up again. With all that being said though, Victor Santos definitely has a chance to make his Major League debut in 2022. He’ll need to prove himself first though, which severely lowers the chance. So for now, the pitcher is just getting a “room temperature” rating.