The Marlins are giving Deyvison De Los Santos another shot in the majors, and this one comes with a clearer runway.
Miami recalled the power-hitting infielder on Thursday to replace struggling infielder Leo Jiménez. It’s not the kind of move that figures to swing the postseason race on its own, especially with the Marlins still clinging to the edge of the Wild Card picture. But for De Los Santos, it opens the door to something bigger: a chance to carve out an everyday role in Miami.
De Los Santos’ path to this point has already included one brief stop with the Guardians. In 2024, he spent a quick 18-game stint with Cleveland during spring training, though the odds were stacked against him from the start.
As a Rule 5 pick, the Guardians would have had to keep him on their big league roster all season to retain him, and his .227/.227/.318 line in 19 spring games didn’t do much to strengthen his case. Cleveland returned him to the Diamondbacks at the end of March, and the rest of the season moved on without him.
The Marlins, meanwhile, brought De Los Santos into their organization in 2024 as part of the return for reliever A.J. Puk.
Since then, he’s gradually developed into more of an everyday type of player. When the Guardians grabbed him in ’24, he was just 20 and coming off a season in which he hit .306/.348/.499 across 126 games between Single-A, High-A and Double-A.
His production has been more uneven since then. He put together a productive first Triple-A run with the Diamondbacks in 2024, but after the trade to Miami, he hit just .240 in 50 games with the Marlins’ Triple-A affiliate. Last season in Triple-A, he struggled to a .241/.311/.363 line, though a left quad strain that cost him five weeks likely played a role.
De Los Santos has already gotten a taste of the majors this year. He made his MLB debut earlier in the season and went 3-for-9 in limited action. On Thursday, he appeared in his first game of this latest Marlins stint as a late-game substitute.
His return also brings a little bit of history back into focus for Cleveland’s first base situation. During his brief time with the Guardians, it briefly looked as if he might have a real opening at first base after the club reassigned Kyle Manzardo to minor league camp. Instead, that turned out to be a lead-in to Josh Naylor becoming the everyday first baseman in what was his final season in Cleveland.
Now Manzardo is in Triple-A, and the Guardians’ first base picture is being handled by a rental in Nathaniel Lowe.
Cleveland has won plenty over the past two seasons, but first base has still been more unsettled than expected. De Los Santos was never going to solve that for them. Now, though, he gets a chance to show Miami he might be part of its answer.
In Other News...
Guardians Wasted A Promising Parker Messick Start For One Frustrating Reason
Parker Messick gave Cleveland plenty to build on in his latest outing, bringing swing-and-miss stuff from the start and working deep enough to hand the Guardians a chance against Detroit. The rookie left-hander was piling up strikeouts and had a career night in that department, but the line still turned frustrating quickly as the Tigers kept finding just enough damage to make the outing look far less clean than it felt at times.
Riley Greene, back from the injured list, was the difference. He saw Messick well all afternoon, finishing 3 for 3 and driving two balls out of the park, while Detroit got seven scoreless innings from Framber Valdez in a 6-0 shutout. For Cleveland, it was the kind of loss that leaves a young starter's best work buried under the one matchup the Guardians could not solve. [Read more 🡒]
Guardians Future Still Feels Unsettled Despite Everything This Team Keeps Doing
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There is at least some faint long-term structure already in place, with private equity investor David Blitzer buying a minority stake in 2022 and a potential path to majority ownership as early as 2027. But the possibility of a change remains unsettled, and for now the Guardians keep doing the hard part anyway by staying relevant and competitive while the investment questions linger in the background. [Read more 🡒]
Guardians Suddenly Have Two Lineup Concerns In A Tight Wild Card Race
The Guardians are getting to the stretch run with a little less certainty in the lineup than they would like, and both issues matter in a race where every game has weight. Rookie outfielder Chase DeLauter is day-to-day after spraining his right wrist in a recent game, while Jose Ramirez was held out for a planned day off as a precaution as he continues to work back from hand surgery.
For Cleveland, the concern is less about a single absent game than the timing of it all. DeLauter has given the club another young option in the outfield, and Ramirez remains the lineup anchor, so the Guardians will be watching both closely as they try to protect their spot in the American League wild card picture without letting a short-term health issue turn into something more troublesome. [Read more 🡒]