Yordany and Johan De Los Santos come as a pair, whether they’re playing dominoes or climbing the Pirates’ prospect ladder.
The brothers are both inside Pittsburgh’s MLB Pipeline Top 30, with Johan checking in at No. 11 and Yordany at No. 14. Different players, different paths, same competitive streak - and the same family foundation behind it.
“We love to play dominoes together,” Yordany said at Pirate City last week at the Forge High Performance Camp. “We’re on the same team every time. But whether it’s dominoes or baseball, we’re always trying to help each other.”
That bond traces back to their father, Johany, who stressed the basics early: work hard, be a good teammate, stay humble, respect the game. Pirates director of coaching and player development Michael Chernow said those lessons show up every day with the brothers.
“They have great parents,” Chernow said. “The work ethic, the character of both of them … they obviously have a very tight bond. You see them together all the time.
“They’re completely different players, but the principles instilled in them at a very young age will help make them successful.”
That work ethic was on display when the brothers learned the camp would lean early on into baseball-adjacent work - mindfulness, visualization, breathing, strength and conditioning and recovery - instead of the usual heavy dose of hitting and fielding. The idea was to show how habits away from the field can carry over into performance. The De Los Santos brothers wanted to hit.
“Trying to explain to Yordany why for two weeks of this camp we weren’t going to be hitting was foreign to him,” Chernow said with a laugh. “He was like, ‘I need to work.’ I said, ‘Believe it or not, scaling back a little bit and not taking 1,000 swings a day is OK at different times.’
“But both of them are really strong character kids. They’re great influences in any locker room and obviously very talented.”
Johan’s rise has been especially sharp. He signed with the Pirates for $2.25 million in January 2025 as the 23rd-ranked international prospect in that signing period, then delivered a strong debut in the Rookie-level Dominican Summer League, hitting .353 with a .911 OPS. He carried that momentum into the Rookie-level Florida Complex League and Single-A Bradenton in 2026, moving ahead of schedule even though he didn’t turn 18 until July.
Across 52 combined games with the FCL Pirates and Marauders, Johan hit .270 with 39 stolen bases and walked more often than he struck out, 27 to 24. In 96 pro games overall, the left-handed hitter owns a .304 average and .813 OPS, along with 73 steals and enough athleticism to handle shortstop. He was also recently named the Pirates’ Rookie-level Player of the Year.
Yordany’s road has been less direct, but the finish line is trending in the right direction. Signed for $1.2 million as the 12th-ranked prospect in the 2022 international class, he didn’t have much success with Single-A Bradenton from 2023-24. The tools were obvious, but he chased too much, had trouble with offspeed pitches and never quite found steady production.
That changed in 2025. Yordany tightened up his approach, stayed under control when he swung and started producing the way the Pirates had hoped. After posting an OPS in affiliated ball from 2023-25 that never got above .699, he jumped to .812 this past season, with 19 home runs, 68 RBIs and 79 runs scored.
The 6-foot-1 right-handed hitter also swiped 45 bases, most in the Pirates’ minor league system, and earned the organization’s Omar Moreno Baserunner of the Year award.
“I think it was my consistency,” Yordany said. “I think that’s the most important thing for me now and the next few years. Be consistent and get better every day.”
Johan knows exactly how much that older-brother example has mattered.
“[Yordany] has helped me so much,” Johan said, with mental performance coach Jose Correlas translating. “He’s my older brother.
I always look up to him. Seeing all the things he’s gone through, the struggles and victories he’s had with the Pirates, he’s helped me learn.
“I’m proud of being with him in the same place, with the same team. It’s not something that’s very common.”
And if the family keeps moving the way it has, there may be another De Los Santos coming behind them. Jason, 13, is the youngest brother, and one day he could become the third member of the family to sign with the Bucs.
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