Phillies: Enyel De Los Santos shows great potential in MLB debut
By John Town
Enyel De Los Santos had a good start to his Phillies career Tuesday night as he showed plenty of potential in his MLB debut.
Tuesday night’s game against the Mets was an intriguing game to watch for Phillies fans as pitching prospect Enyel De Los Santos made his major-league debut. He had to miss pitching in the Triple-A All-Star game, but that was clearly no issue for him.
De Los Santos pitched 6.1 innings, giving up three runs on five hits and three walks. He picked up six strikeouts and recorded four groundouts and four flyouts. De Los Santos tossed 94 pitches, finishing with a game score of 59.
The start ended with De Los Santos’s first major-league win, Philadelphia’s 51st this season. The offense provided plenty of run support to the rookie, led by Maikel Franco’s four runs batted in.
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De Los Santos relied heavily on his fastball, using it to record all six of his strikeouts. It was a good pitch for him, running all the way up to 97 mph at certain points. His curveball and changeup were both strong as well. Once PITCH f/x data is updated, we will get a better idea of how De Los Santos’s arsenal faired overall.
One issue that pops out from the debut was the walks. De Los Santos issued three, not ideal for a six-plus inning start. He walked the leadoff hitters in the first, second, and seventh innings. Granted, the first two walks were in full counts with the final pitch being right on the border but the third burned him as it led to the second run he allowed.
Walks were somewhat of an issue in the minors this year. De Los Santos had an 8.1 percent walk rate in Triple-A this year, which is below-average. This was a concern for him as a prospect, and it showed Tuesday.
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Even though De Los Santos had some control issues, it was still an impressive start to his career. He is forcing his way into the conversation in the major-league rotation and could make things difficult down the road.