Santos poised to make Sox roster
PEORIA, Ariz. - Instead of fielding groundballs, Sergio Santos is now trying to coax them out of opposing hitters.
Instead of using his rocket arm to throw out runners, he's now lighting up the radar gun.
"It's nuts," Santos said. "I still have to kind of pinch myself to see if it's real.
It is, Sergio. It is.
At this time a year ago, Santos was a light-hitting, nondescript infielder in the White Sox' minor-league camp.
Now, he is on the verge of making the 25-man roster - as a relief pitcher.
"I feel like I put myself in a pretty good spot to kind of force their hand to make a decision," Santos said. "That's what I wanted to do from the beginning. I wasn't really worried about numbers as far as not allowing any earned runs. I just said, 'Let me go out there and throw strikes with my fastball, with my slider, with my changeup. Let me show improvement from inning to inning and let everything kind of fall where it may.'
"Luckily, it's worked out pretty well."
Santos' unexpected ascension did hit a rough patch in Thursday's 5-3 exhibition loss to the Padres.
Relieving Sox starter Mark Buehrle in the sixth inning, Santos allowed 2 runs on 2 hits and a walk, ending his Cactus League scoreless streak at 52/3 innings.
"I'm definitely not upset about it," Santos said. "Kind of a mixed feeling for that inning. I felt like I did some really good things. And I did some things that I want to stay away from, like getting in hitters' counts and walking guys when I get ahead. Kind of like a bittersweet inning, I guess."
White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen is still trying to decide between right-handers Santos and Greg Aquino and left-handers Erick Threets and Charlie Leesman for the final bullpen job.
Guillen said Santos' shaky outing Thursday won't sway his decision.
"You expect that," Guillen said. "I like what we see. You are going to see those things happen once in awhile."
Santos got himself in immediate trouble in the sixth inning when he walked San Diego leadoff hitter Kyle Blanks. Chase Headley followed with a run-scoring single after pinch runner Aaron Cunningham stole second and Nick Hundley added an RBI double with one out.
"Every time he got in trouble, he tried to rush a lot," Guillen said.
That Santos is even in this position is somewhat amazing. He didn't start pitching until the beginning of last season, and the 26-year-old Californian was an unimpressive 0-3 (8.16 ERA) in stops with Class A Kannapolis, A Winston-Salem, AA Birmingham and AAA Charlotte.
The fastball has always been there - Santos regularly hits 97 mph - but now he's added a hard slider and changeup to keep hitters off the heat.
"I started getting a good feel for both of those pitches at the end of last season when I got to Charlotte, and then in the (Arizona) Fall League I got an even better feel," Santos said. "That's why I was so excited coming into spring training."
The feeling is now mutual with the White Sox, but Santos realizes he doesn't have a spot on the big-league roster wrapped up just yet.
"I wish it was for me to decide, but I don't," Santos said. "I feel content with what I've done, but by no means do I feel like I have it secured. I still have to go out and pitch my butt off. I throw in a couple days, which I feel like I'm looking forward to when I get back out and hopefully put up some good innings again."
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