The Giants will pick up the right-handed shortstop’s contract Gregory Santos from Triple-A Sacramento today, reports Franchys Romero of BeisbolFR.com. San Francisco has a full 40-man roster and will need to do a consistent job.
Santos won’t turn 27 until August but already has experience in parts of five major league seasons — including two seasons with the Giants. He first signed with the Red Sox as a youngster from his hometown in the Dominican Republic but ended up going to the Giants organization alongside the righty. Shaun Anderson in the 2017 trade that sent infielder Eduardo Nunez to Boston. Santos made his major league debut with the Giants in 2021 and briefly appeared again in 2022, though he totaled just 5 2/3 innings in the orange and black before being designated for assignment and traded to the White Sox in a trade.
Santos had a breakout game in the South Side bullpen, throwing 66 1/3 innings with a 3.39 ERA, five saves, six holds, a 22.8% strikeout rate, a 5.9% walk rate and a 52.5% strikeout rate. Those results, combined with a sinker averaging 98.9 mph and a sharp slider averaging 91.3 mph, made Santos look like a long-term piece in the White Sox bullpen… Zach DeLoachit’s okay Prelander Berroa and a Competitive Balance Round B pick to the Sox for Santos in February of 2024.
Unfortunately for both the Mariners and Santos, an injury ruined his time with the Seattle organization. Santos suffered a concussion during spring training six weeks after the trade and has been on the injured list since mid-July. He also threw 5 1/3 innings before a biceps injury put him on the shelf for another eight weeks. Santos returned to close out the 2024 season with a scoreless frame, at least giving him hope that he could be on track for a healthy, productive season in 2025.
That was not to be.
Santos opened the 2025 season with a slow pitch and gave up four runs in seven innings (5.14 ERA). He walked eight batters and didn’t strike anyone out. In late April, he underwent surgery to repair cartilage in his right knee. That process effectively ended his season. Santos returned to the minor league mound in mid-September but issued nine walks against five hitters in five rehab innings. He did not return to major studies. The Mariners did not offer him a tender in November.
Now back in the organization where he made his major league debut, Santos has posted good results in Triple-A. His sinker and slider both dropped more than a mile per hour from their peak, but he threw 11 innings and held opponents to three runs (2.45 ERA) with nine strikeouts and three walks. He’s walked just six of his opponents in 44 innings (13.6%) and has a strikeout rate of just 7%, which is cause for some concern, but he has three strikeouts in his 2 2/3 frames (12 batters faced). Given all the recent damage, some early rust would be natural.
Time will tell if this is a quick cup of coffee or an opportunity to hold a permanent job in the relief force. Santos has a minor league option remaining, so since it can’t be added to the 40 players, it can be sent down without needing to be waived. If he can return to his pre-injury form, he still has at least two seasons in charge of the club left beyond the current season.
The Giants do not have any 60-day IL candidates confirmed to open up the 40-man roster. It relieves itself Sam Hentges again Joel Peguero I spent the whole season in IL but both have assignments to renew the league; Peguero is nearing the end of his rehab window. The one who plays outside Jared Oliva is a candidate after breaking his hamate earlier this month, but while some hitters take eight weeks or more to return from that injury, there are many cases of players returning after only four to five weeks.
