Gregory

Santos

Santos underwent right knee surgery on Tuesday and is facing a lengthy absence following the procedure. The 25-year-old righty has made just 16 relief appearances for the Mariners over the last two years due to injury. The procedural move frees up a spot on Seattle’s 40-man roster.

The knee issue is something that the Mariners have been managing for a while and the 25-year-old hurler made the decision to have the procedure done. No word on how long he’ll be shelved for afterwards. He has posted a brutal 5.14 ERA, 2.29 WHIP and a 0/8 K/BB ratio in seven innings with the Mariners this season.

Santos was acquired by the Mariners to be a high-leverage option in the winter of 2023, but he dealt with injuries in 2024, and the right-hander has struggled to a a 5.14 ERA with zero strikeouts against eight walks. The Mariners will hope he can get right in Tacoma, with Will Klein taking his spot on the roster.

Santos was limited to just eight late-season relief appearances last year during his Seattle debut due to lat and biceps issues. It’s a positive sign that the 25-year-old righty is feeling healthy in the lead up to spring training and he should help bolster the Mariners’ high-leverage mix behind incumbent closer Andrés Muñoz.

Santos was having velocity issues on his rehab assignment, which is why the Mariners were in no hurry to activated him. In his final appearance for Triple-A Tacoma on Saturday, he was down about 3-4 mph from where he was before going on the IL with biceps inflammation. He’ll probably pitch in low-leverage situations initially.

The good news is that Santos has pitched two scoreless innings on his rehab assignment as he recovers from biceps inflammation. The bad is that his velocity was off by about five mph last night, and it had Statcast classifying his fastballs as changeups.

This move seemed extremely likely after it was announced Wednesday that Santos was heading for an MRI exam on his injured biceps. No word yet on the severity of the issue or how long the M’s expect him to be shelved for. JT Chargois joined the team on Friday and will take Santos’ spot in the Mariners’ bullpen.

He’ll undergo an MRI exam to see exactly what’s going on there and to determine the severity of the injury. It wouldn’t be surprising to see him land on the injured list on Thursday regardless of the results of the imaging though, as the M’s are likely to take every possible precaution here.

Santos looked to be in obvious discomfort after striking out Dominic Smith in the eighth inning, prompting a visit from the training staff and his ultimate removal from the ballgame. It’s unclear if it’s related to lat issue that cost him the first four months of the season, the knee issue that he experienced recently or something entirely new and different. Expect the M’s to provide an update on his status as soon as more information becomes available.

The Mariners are now optimistic that Santos will be able to avoid a stint on the injured list and could even return to action as early as Saturday. He’ll go through a pregame workout on Friday and if all goes well he’ll be cleared to return to the M’s bullpen.