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New York Yankees Reliever Delivering Strong Case for Opening Day Bullpen
Feb 12, 2025; Tampa, FL, USA; New York Yankees pitcher Yerry de los Santos (73) participates in spring training workouts at George M. Steinbrenner Field. Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

Spring training has not been nice to the New York Yankees when it comes to the health of their pitching staff.

Jake Cousins is dealing with a strained forearm while Jonathan Loaisiga isn’t going to be ready for the start of the season. Scott Effross suffered a hamstring injury, JT Brubaker fractured his ribs and Luis Gil, the reigning American League Rookie of the Year, is dealing with shoulder soreness and has been shut down.

Prospect Chase Hampton will be out for the year as he underwent Tommy John surgery in February.

With so many injuries arising, it means other players will have a chance to showcase their talent and push for a spot on the Opening Day roster.

One of the players who was catching the attention of the coaching staff early on in workouts was Yerry De Los Santos.

He pitched in the Major Leagues with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2022 and 2023, throwing 50 innings with 44 strikeouts and a 4.14 ERA. 

His advanced and underlying stats were strong in his second season with the Pirates, which is why the Yankees had plans of using him at the Major League level in 2024, but they never came to fruition.

De Los Santos struggled out of the gate with a 5.79 ERA across his first 27 appearances. He was able to get on track after working diligently with pitching coach Gerardo Casadiego.

That hard work paid off, as manager Aaron Boone spoke highly of the work the former Pittsburgh reliever was doing with the team.

He has certainly not disappointed, as the excellence he was showing in workouts has carried over into Grapefruit League games.

De Los Santos took the mound on Saturday against the Houston Astros for his second appearance of the exhibition season. He was incredible again, as all of his pitchers were operating at an elite level.

As shared by Pitch Profiler on X, he worked 1.2 scoreless innings, recording a 126 proStuff+ with a 20% whiff rate and 0.0% barrel rate.

His sinker, changeup and slider mix was a nasty one for the Astros to deal with.

It is interesting that splitter didn’t show up, as that was the pitch De Los Santos and Casadiego honed in on last year that helped elevate his production.

Another adjustment could have certainly been made, as he is making a strong case to be on the opening day roster as one of the middle relievers.

Through two spring appearances, he has fired 2.2 scoreless innings with two strikeouts. The coaching staff already had their eyes on him and he is doing nothing to change their mind about him being a Major League contributor.

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This article first appeared on New York Yankees on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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