| Héctor Santiago | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Santiago with the Los Angeles Angels | |||||||||||||||
| Pitcher | |||||||||||||||
| Born: (1987-12-16)December 16, 1987 (age 38) Newark, New Jersey, U.S. | |||||||||||||||
Batted: Right Threw: Left | |||||||||||||||
| MLB debut | |||||||||||||||
| July 6, 2011, for the Chicago White Sox | |||||||||||||||
| Last MLB appearance | |||||||||||||||
| July 27, 2021, for the Seattle Mariners | |||||||||||||||
| MLB statistics | |||||||||||||||
| Win–loss record | 48–51 | ||||||||||||||
| Earned run average | 4.12 | ||||||||||||||
| Strikeouts | 856 | ||||||||||||||
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |||||||||||||||
| Teams | |||||||||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||||||
Medals
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Héctor Felipe Santiago (born December 16, 1987) is an American former professionalbaseballpitcher. He has previously played inMajor League Baseball (MLB) for theChicago White Sox,Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim,Minnesota Twins,New York Mets, andSeattle Mariners. He plays for thePuerto Rico national baseball team.
He played one year ofcollege baseball atOkaloosa-Walton Community College inNiceville, Florida. He was an All–Star in 2015.
Santiago graduated in 2006 fromBloomfield Tech High School inEssex County, New Jersey. He played one year atOkaloosa-Walton Community College (now Northwest Florida State College).[1] He is of Puerto Rican descent.
TheChicago White Sox ofMajor League Baseball (MLB) drafted Santiago in the 30th round of the2006 MLB draft, and he signed with the team on May 30, 2007.[2] He made his professional debut with theRookie-levelBristol White Sox of theAppalachian League that summer, going 1–1 with a 1.65 ERA in 17 relief appearances.[3][4] While playing for Bristol, Santiago also befriendedNate Jones, and the pair rose through the White Sox'sfarm system at the same pace.[5]
In 2008, he played for the Single-AKannapolis Intimidators, recording a 5-1 record and 4.06 ERA in 38 games. For the 2009 season, Santiago played for the High-AWinston-Salem Dash, pitching to a 4-4 record and 3.88 ERA with 66 strikeouts in 58.0 innings of work. He returned to Winston-Salem the following year, registering a 4-5 record and 4.15 ERA with 61 strikeouts in60+2⁄3?innings pitched.[6]
Santiago, who split time with Winston-Salem and the Double-ABirmingham Barons in the first half of 2011, was called up to the majors for the first time on June 26, 2011.[7]
Santiago made his MLB debut on July 6, 2011, pitching a perfect ninth inning against theKansas City Royals. He struck outEric Hosmer for his first Major League strikeout. On April 7, 2012, Santiago earned his first career save by striking outElvis Andrus to seal a 4–3 victory for the White Sox. On May 8, Santiago earned his first career win during a 5–3 victory over theCleveland Indians, pitching one inning yielding two hits and striking out one. He remained the majority of the season in the bullpen while also starting on four occasions. He finished 4-1 in 42 games with 4 saves.
In 2013, Santiago split between the White Sox bullpen and the rotation, finishing with 23 starts while also appearing 11 times out of the bullpen. Although his ERA for the season was 3.56, his record was just 4-9 for the White Sox.
Santiago was traded to theLos Angeles Angels of Anaheim on December 10, 2013, in a three-team trade involving theChicago White Sox, theArizona Diamondbacks, and the Los Angeles Angels. The Angels receivedTyler Skaggs along with Santiago, while the White Sox receivedAdam Eaton and the Diamondbacks receivedMark Trumbo,Brandon Jacobs, andA. J. Schugel.[8][9] In his first season in Anaheim, Santiago was fairly inconsistent, he averaged less than 6 innings per start and for a moment was sent to the bullpen, where he made 6 appearances while also starting 24 times for the Angels. In127+1⁄3 innings, Santiago went 6-9 with a 3.75 ERA.
Santiago enjoyed his best season in 2015, setting career highs in wins, innings, strikeouts, and in WHIP. He had the lowestground ball percentage among major league pitchers (29.9%), and the highestfly ball percentage (53.6%).[10][11]
Santiago began the 2016 season in the Angels rotation. From April to June, Santiago recorded a record of 4-4 with an ERA of 5.27. However, in the month of July, Santiago went on a roll for the Angels, allowing just 8 runs in 35.1 innings while posting a 6-0 record. His 2016 stats with Anaheim ended in 22 starts while going 10-4. He did however raise his walk total, issuing 57 walks in 120.2 innings.
On August 1, 2016, theLos Angeles Angels of Anaheim traded Santiago along withAlan Busenitz to theMinnesota Twins in exchange forRicky Nolasco,Alex Meyer, and cash.[12][13] For the Twins in 2016, he was 3-6 with a 5.58 ERA.[14] Pitching for the two teams, he had the lowestline drive percentage allowed (15.9%) of all major league pitchers, the highestfly ball percentage allowed (50.0%), and gave up the highest percentage of hard-hit balls (37.3%).[15][16][17]
He spent much of the 2017 season on the disabled list,[18] and finished with a 4-8 record and a 5.63 ERA. He elected free agency on November 2, 2017.
On February 14, 2018, Santiago signed a minor-league deal with theChicago White Sox.[19] Santiago's contract was purchased by the White Sox on March 28, and he was assigned to the Opening Day roster.[20] Santiago spent the majority of the season in the White Sox bullpen, logging a 4.41 ERA in 102 innings pitched across 49 appearances.
On January 5, 2019, Santiago signed a minor league deal with theNew York Mets. He was assigned to the Triple-ASyracuse Mets to begin the season. Santiago was promoted to the major league club on May 20, following an injury toSeth Lugo.[21] Santiago was designated for assignment on June 15 after struggling to a 6.75 ERA in 8 appearances.[22] He elected free agency on June 18.
As a minor league free agent, Santiago signed a contract with the White Sox on June 21, 2019.[23] He played seven games for Charlotte, going 1–4 with a 5.84 ERA in the process,[3] before he was called up to Chicago on August 6, replacing an injuredManny Bañuelos.[23] On September 24, Santiago struck out eight batters, the most by a White Sox reliever sinceBrandon McCarthy in 2005.[24] Those strikeouts amounted to little, however, as theCleveland Indians shut out Chicago 11–0, with Santiago allowing seven runs over four innings.[25] In 11 major league games for the White Sox, Santiago went 0–1 with a 6.66 ERA, striking out 34 batters in25+2⁄3 innings.[26]
Prior to the2020 MLB season, Santiago sent out a resume and cover letter to all 30 major league teams, in which he said that he would pitch in whatever position they needed, ending with a note that, "I’ll be the yes man for whoever needs me to be. My career has literally been just like this— ha-ha."[27] This caught the attention of theDetroit Tigers, who signed Santiago to a minor-league contract on January 22, 2020.[27][28] The contract included an invitation to spring training, which placed him in competition with fellow left-handed relieversTyler Alexander,Nick Ramirez, andGregory Soto for a place in the Detroit bullpen.[29] TheCOVID-19 pandemic's impact on both major and minor league baseball extended the Tigers' bullpen battle into July, and a number of extra relievers attendedComerica Park for the final round of roster cuts that July.[30] Santiago was released from the organization on July 21, before playing a regular season game for the Tigers.[31]
Santiago's resume approach did not garner any more team offers for the remainder of the 2020 season, or in time for 2021 spring training, and he spent the winter playing for Puerto Rico in the2021 Caribbean Series. On April 30, theSeattle Mariners called Santiago and asked if he could make a start for their Triple-A team, theTacoma Rainiers, on May 8. He pitched four no-hit innings, striking out seven batters and walking two.[32] On May 27, the Mariners selected his contract and promoted Santiago to the majors, where he was meant to bolster a bullpen that had been depleted by injury and COVID-19.[33]
On June 27, Santiago became the first MLB player ejected from a game as part of new policies banning the controversial "sticky stuff" that pitchers used to enhance their grip. Both Santiago and Mariners managerScott Servais argued that the substance found on Santiago's glove was a mixture of sweat androsin, the latter of which was allowed.[34] Santiago appealed the 10-game suspension, which was ultimately upheld, and he was suspended from July 15 to July 27.[35] Only two days after returning from that suspension, Santiago was suspended for an additional 80 games without pay following a positive test for exogenoustestosterone, considered by MLB to be aperformance-enhancing drug. He told reporters that his doctor in Puerto Rico had suggested that he undergo hormonal replacement therapy for an undisclosed medical condition, but he did not contest the suspension.[36] Santiago made 13 major league appearances in 2021, posting a 1-1 record and a 3.42 ERA while striking out 30 batters in26+1⁄3 innings.[26]
On November 30, 2022, Santiago signed with theAcereros de Monclova of theMexican League for the 2023 season.[37] In 9 starts for Monclova, he logged a 3–1 record and 4.84 ERA with 41 strikeouts across44+2⁄3 innings pitched.
Santiago did not appear in a game for the Acereros in 2024 and spent the entirety of the season on the reserve list. He also did not appear in a game in 2025 spending the entire season on the reserve list.
Santiago played for thePuerto Rican national team in the2017 World Baseball Classic where he won a silver medal.[38]
Santiago throws a wide variety of pitches, although by far his most common is afour-seam fastball in the range of 90–96 mph. His off-speed pitches include acurveball, aslider, achangeup and an occasionalcutter.[39] He is also one of the few pitchers in recent years to throw ascrewball.[40] Lefties tend to only see fastballs and curveballs, while right-handers see mostly fastballs, changeups, and screwballs.[39]
According to Santiago, "I'm ... mostly on the inner half to right-handers and away to lefties. I try to get it down and in to righties and down and away to lefties, and let them basically get themselves out. How my ball moves is a big part of how I pitch."[41]
