The Diamondbacks took a shot on Dennis Santana for a reason. They needed pitching help, they had already missed out on their intended Clay Holmes acquisition at the deadline, and they were still hunting for arms after the deadline. Santana landed with them on a minor league contract, and the club clearly saw something worth betting on.
What stood out, according to the reporting, was that Arizona did not view Santana as a pitcher whose stuff had faded. Even after he was released, the Diamondbacks believed his arsenal still matched the level he showed last season.
That matters because this wasn’t framed as a reclamation project built on hope alone. It was a case of the team thinking the performance dip could be corrected.
There are numbers behind that belief. Santana’s Whiff Percentage improved this season on his slider, 4-seam fastball, and sinker.
Batters whiffed at 37.6% of his sliders this season. He also posted a Got-The-Job-Done rate of 70%, which cleared the author’s 67% line and meant he delivered excellent work in 70% of his outings.
Mike Hazen said the club sees room to fix him up.
“And we’re looking to make a few tweaks and see if we can’t get him back righted. He was a leverage reliever last year, and he’s still young, and his stuff didn’t decline. So we felt like it was a worthwhile shot.” - Mike Hazen
That optimism is rooted in a few different ideas. Relief pitching can swing wildly from year to year, and the source points out that this season, half the Pirates relievers are better than last season in ERA+ and half are worse.
There’s also the broader case that Santana’s downturn may be reversible. His expected ERA moved from 3.22 in 2024 to 3.51 in 2025 and then to 5.29 in 2026, per Baseball Savant.
In the source’s view, that kind of jump is likely reversible if injury is not part of the story, and Hazen appears to believe the same thing.
The pitch mix gives Arizona another place to look. Santana raised his 4-seam fastball usage from 28.6% to 30.3% and bumped his changeup rate from 6.1% to 15.0%, per Baseball Savant.
Six of the eight home runs he allowed this season came on those two pitches, and the expected slugging percentages on them were .535 and .555. The suggestion here is simple: if the Diamondbacks can alter how he attacks hitters, they may be able to change the results too.
So what gets Santana to the majors? The source lays out three paths.
One is straightforward improvement - enough of it to reach average performance, help the club, and maybe strengthen a playoff push. Another is a more gradual route, where he hasn’t quite reached average yet but the Diamondbacks still call him up at his opt-out date because they believe the trend is moving the right way.
Steve Gilbert explained that deadline too:
“Santana has an opt-out in his deal if he’s not in the Major Leagues by a certain point. That is standard for a player of his stature because they don’t want to be caught not being on a roster when Aug. 31 rolls around and eligibility for the postseason becomes a factor.” - Steve Gilbert
The third possibility is the oldest one in baseball: someone gets hurt, and Santana becomes the best answer.
There’s also a pretty obvious reason he could stay put. The Diamondbacks signed Zack Littell after Santana, and Littell’s July was strong enough to complicate the bullpen picture.
Comparing July to June and setting aside one rough outing in five appearances, Littell improved his ERA from 4.26 to 1.37 and cut his home runs per nine innings from 3.0 to 0.5. That kind of stretch makes a strong case for him to stay on the active roster the rest of the season.
Still, there’s a wrinkle there too. Littell averaged 4.9 innings per game this season, but in 35% of his games he came in as a reliever. That could leave him in a long-relief role, which might open a different path for Santana later on.
If Arizona doesn’t see the improvement it wants, Santana may simply remain in the minors even if he changes teams again. But the Diamondbacks clearly saw enough to make the move, and enough to believe there’s still something to unlock.
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