GLADYEAR, Arizona. The Guardians‘ last Cactus League match is scheduled for less than two weeks from now. By then, they ought to have a fairly good idea of who will be making the short trip to Oakland for Opening Day a few days later. The team has a lot of decisions to make in just two short weeks.
On that list, Dey vison De Los Santos is ranked highest. He’s not only fighting for a position on the roster, as a Rule 5 Draft selection this summer, he has to be offered back to the D-backs if he doesn’t make the squad and play for the entire season.
A history of the Rule 5 Draft
Trevor Stephan and the Guardians went through something similar a few years ago, although that choice was a little simpler. He was primed to make his MLB debut, and you can never have too many bullpen arms.
Here are the 10 best Rule 5 Draft picks of the past decade
De Los Santos, who is only 20 years old and has never played above Double-A, plays first and third (both positions now held by a regular who will handle most of the playing time). Under any other situation, he would unquestionably require further time in the Minors to mature before to making his debut. The issue is that the Guardians aren’t given the choice to want him and the tremendous potential in his bat.
De Los Santos is 5-for-24 in spring with five strikeouts and no walks. During Sunday’s 5-3 defeat to the Reds at Goodyear Ballpark, one of those hits was obtained.
Prior to the game, Guardians manager Stephen Vogt stated, “I think he’s going to continue to get the regular playing time that he has.” “It’s difficult to really make any concrete decisions on 20 plate appearances, as I believe he has around 20 appearances.”
So, given such a little amount of time, how do you decide? The first step is to stop basing your beliefs on performance.
Testing his ability to stick to a game strategy during games. Chris Valaika, hitting coach for the Guardians, ranked them first. Can he make any changes to his work in terms of quality? Does he continue to operate under the modifications he made with Arizona and incorporate them into his current actions? Actually, those are the things under our control.
The coaching staff of the Guardians knew not much about De Los Santos. Since he hadn’t been with them before December, they had to spend the two months before Spring Training learning everything they could about him so they could respond to those inquiries.
Over half of camp has already passed, and the Guardians will need to use these next two weeks to decide whether De Los Santos’ potential justifies keeping him on the active squad through the 2024 season.
“I believe he has the ability to have an impact, and if we give him good matchups to start, I definitely see him helping our team,” stated Valaika. He’s currently a member of our team. If we do have to send him back, it’s an irrevocable choice. However, we are currently teaching him as though he were one of our men.
Williams is down with elbow pain.
Given the prior history of this rotation, it’s easier said than done, but hold off on panicking just yet. This week, Gavin Williams was working out with a weighted ball and made an odd toss that caused him to have soreness in his right elbow. Vogt clarified that as to why he was unable to start on Sunday as planned.
