Phillies Call Up Enyel De Los Santos For Major League Debut

PHILADELPHIA, PA — The Phillies may have baseball's youngest roster, but the parade of highly touted rookies from Lehigh Valley to Philadelphia is far from over.

The latest call up will take the mound for the Phillies on Tuesday night in New York against the Mets. It's Enyel De Los Santos, the 22-year-old Dominican righty who has done nothing but dominate since coming over in the Freddy Galvis trade with the Padres over the winter.

De Los Santos came to the Phillies with solid but unspectacular numbers with the Padres Double-A affiliate in 2017. When they received him in exchange for one year of Galvis, the expectations were moderate. The deal as a whole was overshadowed by the fact that it ostensibly opened up shortstop for J.P. Crawford. It was also overshadowed by the Carlos Santana signing, which was on the same day.

But in 2018, De Los Santos has turned himself into the best pitcher in the International League, leading all pitchers with a dominant 1.89 ERA and nine wins. He also sports a near-elite 1.08 walks and hits per inning rate.

De Los Santos was ranked the Phillies 11th best prospect at the start of the year, per MLB.com, but was nowhere near the game's top 100 lists. For comparison, pitching against the same competition, highly touted Braves prospect Kolby Allard has a 2.89 ERA, the Red Sox's Jalen Beeks a 3.05 ERA, the Yankees Chance Adams a 4.82, and the White Sox's Michael Kopech a 4.70. De Los Santos is in good company.

Tuesday is a nice introduction to the big leagues for De Los Santos, as he'll face an effete Mets lineup that is 28th in batting average, 28th in total runs, and tied for 27th in winning percentage.

He's filling the hole left by Vince Velasquez, who was recently put on the disabled list after being struck in the arm by a line drive, but is expected to return to the rotation on Wednesday. So even if De Los Santos shines on Tuesday night, its likely he'll return to the minors after the game.

Still, injuries are inevitable, especially for pitchers, and a contending team can never have too much. With Aaron Nola, Jake Arrieta, Nick Pivetta, Zach Eflin, and Velasquez as the starting five, Jerad Eickhoff hoping to be healthy soon, and De Los Santos making his debut, the team suddenly has enviable depth.

De Los Santos will face the Mets Drew Gagnon, who is also making his MLB debut. Gagnon has pitched to a 4.40 ERA over two levels in the Mets system in 2018.

Photo by Brian Blanco/Getty Images