When Santos’ career as a shortstop stalled in Triple-A, the White Sox made an offer with the intent of converting him — and his 96 mph fastball — to a pitcher.
“It never crossed my mind that he could be a pitcher,” former minor league teammate Miguel Montero told Yahoo Sports. “He threw kind of ugly, kind of sidearm. I thought he could hit. For sure.”
Santos was equally skeptical, and after initially resisting the change, Chicago dealt him to the Giants.
But there was a catch. If he didn’t play everyday in the field with the Giants’ organization, San Francisco would have to return him to Chicago, where he would become a pitcher.
Just a year later, Santos sports a 0.52 ERA and has held opponents scoreless in 17 of 18 innings.
“There were no more what-ifs,” Santos told Yahoo Sports. “I was on to the next phase of my life. So I put all my energy into becoming a pitcher.”
