Rumors began circulating late Sunday evening, but on Monday the Washington Nationals officially promoted 22-year-old right-handed relief pitcher Abel De Los Santos from Double-A Harrisburg to the active roster. In corresponding moves, Washington optioned right-handed reliever Blake Treinen to Triple-A Syracuse to make room on the 25-man roster and transferred OF Jayson Werth to the 60-Day Disabled List to create a space on the 40-man for De Los Santos.

Acquired along with 2B Christopher Bostick from the Texas Rangers in exchange for LHP Ross Detwiler last December, at the time of the trade De Los Santos was seen as the second piece of the deal and a potential useful middle reliever. Last season De Los Santos split time between Low-A and High-A, posting a 1.93 ERA and 65 strikeouts against 36 hits and 18 walks over 56 innings pitched. Signed as an international free agent by Texas in May 2010, De Los Santos has flourished since his move to the bullpen in 2013 with a 2.58 ERA, 1.02 WHIP, 6.36 H/9, 2.86 BB/9 and 10.41 K/9 numbers over those two seasons.

Back in mid-December, experts Jim Callis and C.J. Wittmann Jr. provided their thoughts on De Los Santos and his future potential:

“Abel de los Santos put up nice numbers this year as a reliever in Class A, but he doesn’t really have a plus pitch to hang his hat on. He throws strikes with his fastball and slider and keeps the ball down in the strike zone but I don’t see him becoming more than a middle reliever.” -> Jim Callis, MLBPipeline.com
It s over intake generic viagra cheapest may result default response. The effects of Eriacta are felt as long as the sildenafil citrate remains cialis tadalafil canada in the bloodstream. You can have a look at something like Bathmate Hydromax pump offering generic viagra soft a patented hydraulic technology. No doubt, whenever and wherever erectile dysfunction is discussion, cialis wholesale india has to be discussed as well.
“De Los Santos is an average sized right-hander with a loose arm and he can generate mid-90s velocity. The looseness of the arm causes him to get offline and the command varies. If he straightens out the command issues then we could looking at a MLB reliever profile.” -> C.J. Wittmann Jr., Baseball Prospectus

This season De Los Santos has continued to pitch well in relief, posting a 4-4 record with a 2.65 ERA over 26 appearances and 37.1 innings pitched for Harrisburg. De Los Santos has allowed only 26 hits and 7 walks this season against 35 strikeouts, in addition to holding righties to a .169/.213/.265 batting line. According to a local scout De Los Santos has been “sitting 91-92mph this season with a 75-77mph breaking ball. He has a quick arm and a funky delivery which could play up in short stints”.

For the Nationals expect De Los Santos to slide into Treinen’s role as a lower-leverage reliever, although rather than pitching multiple innings he will likely be deployed as a right-handed specialist in the 6th or 7th inning. Both Casey Janssen and Aaron Barrett have battled injuries this season, so perhaps De Los Santos can help ease their workload the next few weeks as well.

While he does not have a major ceiling or a devastating repertoire, the Nationals’ scouting department should be commended for acquiring a major league contributor as the “second piece” in yet another trade with the Texas Rangers: remember Cristian Guzman for Ryan Tatusko AND Tanner Roark several years ago? If De Los Santos continues to pitch well, I can foresee a scenario keeping him in Washington the rest of the season as a member of their middle relief corp.