Giants trade piece from Eduardo Nuñez deal finally called up for return to SF

The SF Giants may have been rained out yesterday, but they made a move to add right-handed flamethrower Gregory Santos to the squad. He was part of the return in the Eduardo Nuñez trade back in 2017 and after making a handful of appearances with San Francisco in 2021 and 2022, he has worked his way back to the Giants.

Santos was signed by the Boston Red Sox as an international free agent back in 2015. He’s been an interesting talent for a long time and his velocity has always impressed.

When the Giants were a dumpster fire back in 2017, they traded Nuñez, who was acquired the year prior from the Minnesota Twins as a replacement for Matt Duffy at third base, to the Red Sox in exchange for Santos and Shaun Anderson. For those who still sometimes think about Anderson for whatever reason, he is currently with the Los Angeles Angels organization.

Santos has had a wild route back to the Giants organization

Santos made his big league debut with San Francisco in 2021. He made just five appearances with the Giants between 2021 and 2022 and allowed seven earned runs in 5 and 2/3 innings pitched. He also served an 80-game suspension for PED usage in June of 2021.

The Giants cut him loose after the 2022 season and he landed with the Chicago White Sox. He had his best professional season with Chicago that year as he had a 3.39 ERA in 66 and 1/3 innings pitched. 

He was traded from the White Sox to the Seattle Mariners after that season but unfortunately his tenure in the Pacific Northwest was not quite as fruitful. Injuries limited him to just 16 appearances between 2024 and 2025 and the Mariners cut him loose following last season.

That is when the Giants swooped in and signed him to a minor league contract in the offseason. He seemed like a strong candidate to make the big league roster given how wide open the bullpen competition was but he wound up starting the season in Triple-A.

In Sacramento he had a 2.45 ERA in 11 innings pitched with six strikeouts compared to three walks. Despite his high velocity, he has never been a huge strikeout guy. His sinker-slider mix induces more ground balls and he often leans on the slider more than the sinker. He will at least be a fresh arm in San Francisco’s bullpen which has been a surprisingly strong part of the team especially since it was such a huge question mark coming into the year.

To make room for Santos on the roster, the Giants sent Blade Tidwell down to Triple-A. They will also carry Trevor McDonald as the 27th man on the roster today as they play a double header in Philadelphia.

It took a long time, but Santos is finally back with the Giants. Caleb Kilian took a similarly circuitous route back to the Giants and has looked dominant this season so maybe Santos can follow that same path.

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