Pirates All 40: Dennis Santana’s Revitalized Career

This is one in a series of stories breaking down members of the Pittsburgh Pirates’ 40-man roster.

The Pirates claimed right-handed pitcher Dennis Santana off waivers in June after the New York Yankees designated him for assignment. One might not have expected much from a presumptive journeyman on his fifth team in four years — much less one who pitched to a 6.26 ERA with 19 strikeouts in 27.1 innings before the Yankees cut bait — but the 28-year-old reliever salvaged his season (and quite possible career) upon arriving in Pittsburgh.

Aside from a six run meltdown in his second appearance with the team, Santana allowed just two runs between his arrival on June 13 and the end of July. He went on to post a 2.44 ERA across 44.1 innings with the Pirates, striking out 50 batters and providing some much-needed bullpen stability for a team that severely lacked it.

Santana brings a five pitch mix to the table. He relies on his slider and four seam fastball, throwing them 33 and 26 percent of the time, respectively, in 2024, also mixing in a cutter, sinker and changeup. The radar gun rings up both Santana’s four seamer and sinker around 95 miles an hour; his cutter crosses the plate around 90 mph, while both his changeup and slider sit in the high 80s.

Although Santana excelled at limiting runs while with the Pirates, underlying numbers suggest he’s playing with fire. His average exit velocity allowed, barrel percentage and hard-hit rate all rest within the upper echelons of qualifying pitchers, per Statcast, but he’s below average when it comes to inducing groundouts, posting a GO/AO ratio of 0.81.

Santana did a great job of forcing opposing batters to chase pitches out of the zone (and making them off on pitches inside it) even if he didn’t always put them away with a strikeout. All in all, there are some question marks to his game, but he’s been everything one could hope for from a midseason waiver pickup to this point.