Reliever Roundup: Gregory Soto, Enyel De Los Santos, and Enduring Luis García

The Phillies and Orioles completed their second trade at the deadline yesterday, as 29-year-old lefty Gregory Soto was sent to Baltimore for pitching prospects Seth Johnson and Moisés Chace. Soto had a good regular season, with a 4.08 ERA in 35.1 innings (43 appearances). He's still throwing hard, and he's racked up a lot of walks and strikeouts as he relies more on his excellent slider than in years past. After his best year to avoid free passes in 2023, Soto's walk rate has rebounded to near his career norm of 12%; his fastball also produces fewer swings and misses than before with a minuscule 4.9% swing rate, which is really low for a 98 mph heater.

Soto was heavily pressured in high-profile situations in Philly courtesy of Matt Strahm and Jeff Hoffman, and may see his opportunities diminished with the recent acquisition of Carlos Estévez. While there's nothing wrong with having a 98-hit lefty as one of your low-end guys, the way the market is structured for multi-year relievers probably makes it tempting for the Phillies to trade up more than they normally would for a pitcher. near the bottom of the Bulls depth chart. This one-for-two deal helps restore their farm system a bit after the Estévez and Austin Hays trades.

In Baltimore, Soto joins Keegan Akin and Cionel Pérez as the remainder of the Orioles bullpen. He is under team control for next season. Whenever an organization like the Orioles acquires a pitcher whose results seem to be worse than his talent, you wonder if there's anything they can change to help him get bigger. But Soto's previous organizations, the Tigers and Phillies, have had recent success developing pitchers, including late bloomers like Hoffman. Perhaps there is no development fruit hanging low for the Orioles to reap here; Soto is 29 years old and may be a bit of a frustrating outfielder who performs below the norm for someone with arm strength, let alone a lefty. That still includes a middle-inning improvement for Baltimore. Will one of these teams be cursing themselves in a few months by making the other perfect?

The Phillies got two pitchers, one that could help them as soon as next year, and the other is part of the development. Johnson, who is about to turn 26, posted a 2.63 ERA (with a FIP and xFIP in the 4.13-4.26 range) as a starter at Double-A Bowie before the trade. The pandemic and a chronic Tommy John have unfortunately prevented Johnson from posting the first load of innings in back-to-back seasons, and his 65 innings pitched at the trade deadline are already the most he has thrown in a single season since 2021. Johnson is sitting at 94-96 riding life. An upper-80s cutter is his second weapon of choice, and he has a mid-70s curveball with plenty of depth. There is no neutral weapon here and the 2025 season will be Johnson's last year (unless the Phillies are granted another annual option due to his 2022 TJ), which together will push Johnson into a bullpen role sometime next year. .

Chace (pronounced CHA-say) is a 21-year-old middle right fielder in his fourth season who has struck out more than a batter per inning each year of his career. Working in a piggyback role in Aberdeen before the trade, Chase has a good chance to develop a quality starting pitching mix but perhaps not a quality starting command. He sits 93-96 with a plus-plus vertical ride, has a plus, 81-85 mph sweep-style slider, and his changeup lights up the tail of the bat. Chace's slider feels like it's improved but that's not true of his other offerings. He is eligible for the Rule 5 after this season and will be one of the more interesting offenses on defense. There are two major league pitchers who are doing well here right now, but Chace is far from the majors. Right now, I'd call him adding an unlikely bet that he doesn't get Rule 5'd.

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The Boston Red Sox added 12-year major league veteran Luis García to the back of their bullpen, which so far ranks in the bottom third of the league in combined ERA and strikeout rate. Anaheim targets four prospects, three of whom are major league closers. Former shortstop and 23-year-old left fielder Matthew Lugo, 25-year-old Niko Kavadas, and 26-year-old Ryan Zeferjahn are all from Triple-A Worcester, while Yeferson Vargas 19 years old. he was promoted to Low-A just before the deal.

García was one of baseball's 50 most productive players as of the 2021 season. He's in the top 60 in WAR, FIP, ERA, strikeouts, and WHIP among pitchers who have thrown at least 150 innings during that span, actually the second-best reliever on a good team even as he climbs into his late 30s. García has a WHIP of 1.17 this season as his fastball velocity is down two ticks from the top and just over one tick from last season. His stack, splitter, and slider (especially two-seconds, which are combination or better offerings that create big swings and misses against big leaguers) are always good enough for García to play an elite role against opponents.

García is freelancing again this winter. It may sound like giving up four players for two months off is a big deal, but if any team had to go through 40 players this offseason, it would be the Red Sox because of how many potential players they have on their roster. system. Many of those players are now gone, including Kavadas, Lugo, Zeferjahn, Eddinson Paulino and Nick Yorke. It's good to have depth in case of injuries, but it's clear that the Red Sox either lost a couple of these guys to the Rule 5 draft this offseason or closed their roster trying to keep them.

Kavadas is hitting a third of the time in Triple-A, but has great power and had a .975 OPS at the time of the trade. He posted a 57% hard hit rate at Worcester and his swing is aimed at the extreme, with 20 degrees of launch on average. There will likely be a small window in Kavadas prime where he can gain enough power to become a major league starter. A career path similar to what Jared Walsh had with the Angels is possible, where he enjoys a year or two of peak power but is later blocked from hitting in a way that is problematic for the overall profile of a 1B / DH player. . Consider Mike Ford.

A change in swing and a more patient approach opened up a gear of more power for Lugo and may have saved the former second-round pick's job, especially as he slid down the defensive spectrum from shortstop to lefty. His hitting style has allowed him to hit 30 homers in the minors this year. Hellbent on pulling the baseball, Lugo struggles to cover the outer third of the zone and swings in a ton of pitches out there. Given his limited hit tool and the way his defense has declined, he looks more like an up/down blocker than a consistent role player.

Zeferjahn is a hard-throwing pitcher who averaged 96-98 with his fastball this year. He was absolutely outstanding in Double-A earlier in the season and was promoted to Worcester, where his command has returned to problematic work practices; he walks six of nine batters there. Zeferjahn's fastball plays down because of his slow movement and lack of command, but he actually has three middle pitches and can be an up/down reliever in most orgs. He could play a very important role for the Angels in the next few years. I expect him to be added to their 40-man roster this offseason.

Finally, Vargas is a solid, six-footer who has cut his stride in comparison to 2023 while enjoying a two- or three-pound increase in velocity. Vargas' fastball was 92-93 last year and a scout who saw him early in the spring had him sitting at 93-95, but when I saw Vargas in June, he was 95-96 and touched 98 in three innings of work. He also has a snappy curveball in the 81-84 mph range that is light and in my view. At Vargas' size, he's likely to be comfortable, but he made huge strides last year, especially in the strikeout department. He is a hard-throwing developmental prospect with a good two-pitch foundation.

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The Yankees acquired Enyel De Los Santos and Thomas Balboni Jr. from the Padres in a trade for 27-year-old Triple-A center fielder Brandon Lockridge. De Los Santos, 28, has had a topsy-turvy season, having been popular with locals in San Diego before the trade but doing otherwise closer to his work ethic. In 40.1 innings, De Los Santos has a 4.46 ERA, a 28% strikeout rate, and a career-best 7.6% walk rate. His stuff was in line with professional standards, but Enyel's style of bowling has changed. His slider usage has increased significantly this year and his approach to finding his fastball has shifted to the upper half of the zone. Here are De Los Santos' fastball pitches against lefties the past two years:

Seven of the 11 homers (in 40.1 innings!) De Los Santos has surrendered this year has come off his fastball, a pitch he throws less than ever. Especially in the Yankee Stadium bandbox, I would expect some kind of fastball transformation to happen here, even if it's just a return to more of the east/west style of play.

De Los Santos has been in the big leagues since he was 22 but because several of those seasons are partial, he is in his middle years and will be granted a free agent after the 2026 season, at the age of 31. The additions of pitchers crowded De Los Santos into the lineup, possibly the Padres' way of seeing more budget after Peter Seidler made De Los Santos' approaching salary a result. Perhaps the lack of power created by this is why the Padres had to pin their hopes on Enyel to get Lockridge. That hope is 24-year-old Balboni, a reliever who has had two hits this season. Balboni now sits at 93-96 and has a very active slider. He's not a great pitcher, but he has good stuff and a good shot at eventually wearing a big league uniform.

Returning to the Padres is Lockridge, a good quality player who can go and get it in center field and anchors the Padres' middle infield behind Jackson Merrill to some extent. The injury to Fernando Tatis Jr. it put pressure on the Padres' deep infield and forced the no-hitter David Peralta into action. Lockridge could be a better roster in the league than Bryce Johnson, who is not a good quarterback. Tim Locastro, Óscar Mercado, Cal Mitchell, Tirso Ornelas, and José Azocar are all from El Paso, too.