Boston Red Sox pitching prospect Victor Santos could impress in 2022
In 2021, the Boston Red Sox sent shortstop prospect C.J. Chatham to the Philadelphia Phillies. They were given cash considerations and a player to be named in return. It took until the middle of the season, but Philadelphia finally sent that player to Boston in July – as it ended up being pitcher Victor Santos.
Now, this was surprising for a simple reason. I don’t think many were expecting such a strong prospect in return. Santos was even on the Red Sox top-30 prospect list when he first joined the organization.
The right-handed pitcher is not on that list anymore, but that has more to do with how good Boston’s minor league system is at the moment. In fact, he was at the top of his game while with the Double-A Portland Sea Dogs last season.
Appearing in 10 games (eight starts), Santos tossed 45 1/3 innings in the Red Sox system (all in Double-A). In those innings the righty recorded a 2.58 ERA, .240 BAA, and 1.08 WHIP. He struck out 45 batters while only walking six.
Now Santos will be entering his first full year in the Red Sox system in 2022. That’s going to give him a chance to really get some eyes on him and have the organization see what he’s got. And he’ll be doing so while being much more comfortable in his environment.
It would probably make the most sense for him to start the year in Double-A but Triple-A isn’t completely out of the question. If you add his time with the Phillies, Santos tossed 66 innings in Double-A last year. That’s not a lot of time, but it’s not terrible either. That being said, starting the year in Double-A with the chance to move up relatively quickly seems like the better option.
So what should you expect to see from him as Santos works his way through Double-A and Triple-A? Well, 2021 was no fluke. The Dominican Republic native has a career 3.12 ERA in 300 innings. His WHIP (1.13) and BAA (.257) are strong as well. And the fact that he made improvements on those numbers last year show that he is trending up.
The craziest part though? Santos is just 21 (will turn 22 on July 12). Still extremely young, he’s already showing that he can handle his own at the higher levels in the minors. It also means that Boston doesn’t really need to rush him. They can take their time and let him grow – no pressure to bring him up in 2022.
Now, if Santos really dominates when he gets to Triple-A it might not be out of the picture. But it still seems like a long shot.
What we could get is a strong showing in the two highest minor league levels though, which would set Santos up nicely for a Major League debut in 2023.
With not the highest strikeout numbers, Santos isn’t the flashiest pitching prospect in the world. The strikeouts are still there though, and he rarely gives up free passes. There is a lot to love about his game and in 2022 Victor Santos is going to get a chance to show the Boston Red Sox exactly what they got in that trade – and make some waves in the process.