White Sox Pitcher Sergio Santos Took an Unusual Path to the Big Leagues


Sergio Santos
was compared to Alex Rodriguez out of high school. Now Santos is one of the top relief pitchers in baseball, Yahoo Sports reports.

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.”

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