JOSE LUIS de los SANTOS
2/17/85; NDFA '06; Dominican Republic
R/R; 5-11, 160
| Level |
BA |
OBP |
SA |
AB |
2B |
3B |
HR |
BB |
K |
SB |
CS |
| 2004 DSL |
.287 |
.313 |
.322 |
174 |
4 |
1 |
0 |
6 |
15 |
20 |
|
| 2005
DSL |
.221 |
.267 |
.321 |
190 |
7 |
3 |
2 |
10 |
27 |
34 |
|
| 2006 A- |
.000 |
.000 |
.000 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
| 2006
R |
.277 |
.341 |
.314 |
159 |
6 |
0 |
0 |
13 |
22 |
18 |
5 |
| 2007 A |
.224 |
.254 |
.240 |
125 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
20 |
3 |
5 |
| 2008
A+ |
.233 |
.293 |
.286 |
210 |
5 |
3 |
0 |
17 |
39 |
14 |
10 |
| 2008 A |
.270 |
.341 |
.299 |
244 |
5 |
1 |
0 |
26 |
50 |
14 |
10 |
After two years in the DSL, de los Santos served as
Bradenton's regular SS in 2006. He batted leadoff and did a decent job of
getting on base. Baseball America states that he took up
switch-hitting in 2006, but the roster at MiLB.com continues to show him as a RH
hitter, as does the Pirates' media guide, and I haven't seen him hit LH.
In 2006, he got a year-end promotion to Williamsport and was probably
slated to return there in 2007, but instead was moved from extended spring
training to Hickory when Angel Gonzalez was promoted to Lynchburg. De los
Santos obviously was overmatched with the bat in the SAL. He must have
gotten hurt, as he played in only one game after July. With Brian Friday
skipping low A and going to Lynchburg, de los Santos opened
2008 as the SS at Hickory. He showed some progress at the
plate, as he started trying to work the count and did a fairly good job of
getting on base. He's strictly a slap hitter and has no power at
all. When Friday went out with back problems, de los Santos moved up to
Lynchburg, where he struggled at the plate.
De los Santos is a very good defensive SS, with good range and athleticism, and a strong arm. He's error-prone, but that's not uncommon in the low minors. He's very fast but obviously needs to work on his base stealing technique. The Pirates may continue to try to develop him as something other than an organizational player due to his glove, but he'll open 2009 at age 24 and doesn't have much of a ceiling. Friday is likely to move to AA in 2009, but de los Santos could get squeezed out of the SS position if Jordy Mercer moves up from Hickory. He played mainly 2B after Friday returned late in 2008, so he could move there again in 2009. In any event he'll most likely return to Lynchburg.
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