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Santana came on to protect a one-run lead with the potential tying run at second base after Gerardo Carrillo surrendered four runs and recorded only one out to open the 10th inning. He managed to get Michael Massey to fly out to center field before striking out Nick Loftin to end the ballgame. He got the call with Juan Morillo unavailable for workload reasons after both Justin Martinez and Brandyn Garcia pitched earlier in the contest. It was his third save of the season. He’s pitched surprisingly well for Arizona, allowing two runs over 5 2/3 innings since August 17.

Santana was inked to a minor league contract last week after he elected free agency from the Pirates. While he has struggled to a 6.05 ERA over 41 2/3 innings on the season, he has proven to be a viable late-inning option in the past and could work his way into the saves mix with the Diamondbacks if he pitches well out of the gate.

This is not a bad gamble for the Diamondbacks, who had to remove Paul Sewald from the closer’s role last week. Santana had a 6.05 ERA over 41 2/3 innings this season for the Pirates, but he was solid for them as a late-inning reliever last season and could regain some value in Arizona. He’s unlikely to be trusted with save chances, however.

Santana hits the open market after passing through waivers unclaimed and refusing an outright assignment to Triple-A Indianapolis. It’s a tad surprising there wasn’t a team out there willing to roll the dice given his high-leverage experience, but no team was willing to pick up the remaining portion of his $3.5 million salary. The 30-year-old former stopper was jettisoned from Pittsburgh’s roster last week after struggling to a bloated 6.05 ERA across 41 2/3 innings this season. He should be able to latch on somewhere else as extra bullpen depth.

The move makes room for fellow reliever Ron Marinaccio, who was acquired from the Padres. How much better off would the Pirates be right now if they had kept David Bednar, instead of taking a poor return from the Yankees, and traded Santana last summer? Santana was great last season, but with his strikeout rate down to 20 percent, he’d posted a 6.05 ERA in 41 2/3 innings this year. He’s a free agent at season’s end and any team that claims him would owe him about $1.5 million over the rest of the year, so there’s a good chance he’ll clear waivers.

Mason Montgomery was uninvolved in the late game mix tonight, as he opened and threw a scoreless first inning. The Pirates had Brandon Eisert begin the eighth with a 3-0 lead, but he gave up three singles to load the bases with one out. Soto entered then and allowed all of the inherited runners to score before escaping the inning. Santana took over in the ninth in a tie game and gave up hits to all three batters he faced. The second of those was a double that saw the winning run thrown out at home plate. However, that just served to set up Travis Bazzana’s walkoff homer. Montgomery seems like the Pirates’ best late-game reliever right now, but with the way Don Kelly is managing things, it’s hard to recommend any of the team’s relievers.

Santana was tasked with preserving a two-run lead in the final frame after six Pirates relievers combined for eight scoreless frames to open the contest. He served up back-to-back solo homers to Pedro Pagés and JJ Wetherholt. Thing spiralled immediately afterwards as he allowed three consecutive batters to reach before coughing up a go-ahead two-run double to José Fermín.

Santana finished the job for the Pirates, but it came in an 8-4 game so there’s no save for the right-hander. He did pick up a pair of strikeouts without allowing a hit, however, and his ERA for the first three weeks of the season is a miniscule 0.75. That’ll work.

It’s still notable that with similar workloads over the last few days, it was Santana and not Gregory Soto that took the mound at the start of the tenth inning. Santana did not exactly reward the confidence by leaving a pitch right in the middle of the plate for the go-ahead RBI single by James Wood. The committee should remain interesting in Pittsburgh, but perhaps this was a tell-tale sign of trust we should attach some real meaning to.

Is Santana securely back as the Pirates’ closer? He’s now received their last three save opportunities and converted two of them after it looked like Gregory Soto could’ve been zeroing in on the role. Instead, the left-handed Soto pitched the eighth inning of this game and faced lefties James Wood and Daylen Lile. Santana has the inside track at the moment, but expect Pittsburgh to still take the situation into account as to who gets the opportunities for saves.

Santana walked Dansby Swanson with one out and Carson Kelly with two outs before Alex Bregman snuck a liner into center field for a game-tying hit. It’s the first run Santana has allowed in eight innings this season, and he’s still probably the favorite for saves in a Pirates closing situation that still might be something of a committee. Yohan Ramírez might be adding his name to the mix after working scoreless 10th and 11th innings for a win today.

Gregory Soto, who has shared the late-game duties with Santana this season, worked a scoreless eighth inning ahead of him, though he did walk a pair of batters. Santana then took over and made quick work of the Cubs, needing just 13 pitches (nine strikes) to dispatch of the Cubs including strikeouts of Dansby Swanson and Michael Busch. The 29-year-old hurler has yet to allow a run over seven innings on the season while posting a minuscule 0.43 WHIP and a 6/2 K/BB ratio.

A day after pitching the eighth, Santana was summoned in the ninth on Saturday in a tie game. He pitched a clean inning, striking out the final batter before the Pirates walked it off in the bottom of the frame to give Santana the win. Gregory Soto was likely unavailable after pitching in three of the last four games. The early usage has raised questions surrounding Santana’s role. He and Soto seem likely to work in a matchup-based committee.

The Pirates surprised some people by saying at the end of the spring that Santana wouldn’t be their sole closer, but the guess here is that he’s still going to get the big majority of the save chances unless he stumbles. The Pirates haven’t had a traditional opportunity yet, but Santana has already thrown three scoreless innings. However, since Santana has worked the last two days, Gregory Soto, who got this one off, might be the choice to close Monday.

Santana is the odds-on favorite to open the season as Pittsburgh’s closer after recording 16 saves to go along with a 2.18 ERA (3.50 xERA), 0.87 WHIP and 60/17 K/BB ratio across 70 1/3 innings last year. The 29-year-old is a top 15-20 range fantasy closer in drafts this spring.

Santana finished with a 2.18 ERA and 16 saves in a 2025 season split between closing and setting up for David Bednar. He’s the clear favorite for saves in the Pittsburgh pen as he enters his walk year. A July trade is probably forthcoming if the team fails to contend.

Santana was a crucial part of the Pirates’ bullpen in 2025, taking over the closer’s role when David Bednar was demoted to Triple-A and then again later after Bednar was traded to the Yankees. He threw 70 1/3 innings with a 2.18 ERA, 0.867 WHIP, and 60/17 K/BB ratio while recording 16 saves. He will likely form a closer committee in 2026 with newly signed left-hander Gregory Soto.

Santana has five saves this month. He’s pitched two straight days and four of the last five, so he probably ought to be out of commission on Sunday. Still, maybe not... he’ll have plenty of time to rest afterwards, of course.

Santana blew his first save chance after David Bednar was traded, but he’s 9-for-9 since. The scoreless appearance tonight was his eighth in a row.

Santana was summoned to close out the game against the A’s with a two-run lead in the ninth inning. He tossed a clean frame on 10 pitches, striking out one batter for his 14th save of the season to go with a 2.18 ERA over 66 innings.