Position: LHP
Born: 12/16/1987
Ht: 6’0″ Wt: 215 lb
Acquired: Drafted 30th round in the 2006 draft out of Bloomfield Tech HS (Mich.)
Career Stats
FutureSox Prospect Rankings
- #T-15 – 2011 Midseason
- #7 – 2012 Preseason
FutureSox Media
Accolades
- AL All-Star, 2015
Scouting Report
The New Jersey born left-hander showed what a difference a pitch can make when his newly developed screwball led to a breakout 2011 that included a pair of July appearances in the majors. Before that he was a middling reliever with a good low 90s fastball that gave him a lot of strikeouts, but not enough else. The Sox made him a starter in 2011 and he hit the ground running in Winston-Salem, earning a promotion after just eight starts. The success continued in Birmingham and that led to a temporary big league call-up.
Santiago carved out a full-time bullpen role with the White Sox in 2012 and held his own as a starter in 2013 (3.56 ERA in 149 IP). In the offseason, he was dealt to the Los Angeles Angels in a three-team trade that netted the White Sox Adam Eaton. Santiago never reached 200 innings in a season, but was an all-star in 2015, which was the clear peak of his MLB career.