Alex Santos

Organization Prospect Rankings

• 
  Ranked Houston Astros #6 prospect in 2022
  Track Record: The Astros selected Santos No. 72 overall in the 2020 draft despite him missing his entire senior high school season due to the pandemic. Rapsodo data from Santos’ bullpen sessions during the shutdown, coupled with his continued presence on the showcase circuit, gave Houston confidence in its selection. Santos did not appear in a professional game until 2021, when he threw 41.2 innings for Low-A Fayetteville and demonstrated some of the potential that tantalized the Astros.
  
  Scouting Report: Santos sits in the low-to-mid 90s with a high-spin four-seam fastball that can sneak up on hitters and always seems to miss bats. His fastball is usually 91-93 mph, but can touch 95 in spurts. Santos’ ability to spin both the four-seamer and a plus curveball align well with the Astros’ pitching philosophies. His confidence is growing in a fading changeup that he barely threw in high school, and it now has average potential. Continued progression of the changeup and a slider will serve Santos well if he hopes to start in the major leagues. Santos’ arm action and failure to repeat his delivery consistently leave some wondering whether he’s better suited as a reliever, but his strike-throwing ability stood out throughout the draft circuit.
  
  The Future: Perhaps no young pitcher in Houston’s system has more upside as a potential starter than Santos. He’ll need to refine his repeatability and curtail some of his bouts of bad command, but hope is high given his age and relative inexperience.
  
• 
  Ranked Houston Astros #3 prospect in 2021
  Fastball: 55. Changeup: 50. Curveball: 60. Control: 55.
  
  TRACK RECORD: Major League Baseball made the Astros surrender their firstand second-round picks in 2020 as penalties for their illegal sign-stealing. With their first pick at No. 72 overall, Houston drafted Santos, who didn't get to pitch during the 2020 high school season in New York due to the pandemic. Instead, Santos regularly threw bullpens at the Citius Baseball facility his father co-owns and sent his Rapsodo data. After signing for $1.25 million, Santos went to instructional league in Florida.
  
  SCOUTING REPORT: Santos pitches off a low-to-mid-90s fastball with a high spin rate that should help him get swings and misses when he pitches up in the zone. He shows feel for two secondary pitches. The most advanced one is his curveball, which is a potential plus pitch which can miss bats with its tight rotation. His changeup--a pitch Santos didn't really need in high school--made strides in 2020 and gives him a chance for a third average or better pitch. Santos has a strong, athletic build and the strike-throwing ability to project as a starter.
  
  THE FUTURE: High school pitchers are risky--especially given the lack of looks at Santos during his draft year--but he has one of the best combinations of upside and starter traits in the Astros' system.

Draft Prospects

• Ranked #45 prospect in 2020 draft
  One of the top pitchers in the Northeast, Santos never got into a game for his high school this spring because of the shortened 2020 season, but got plenty of looks from scouts last summer. Santos throws from a three-quarters arm slot with a fastball that gets into the mid-90s and flashes plus. He pairs that with two secondary offerings that have plus potential, with plenty of spin on his curveball and a changeup he worked on over the offseason. After throwing in an Alabama event this spring, scouts noted the improvement of the changeup, though his velocity wasn’t yet quite as high as it had been over the summer. Santos added weight and strength to his frame and now stands around 6-foot-3, 215 pounds. He now has the build along with the strike-throwing ability and athleticism that portend a future starting role. There will be more risk with Santos due to the fact that teams simply couldn’t see him much this spring, but his father co-owns a facility in New York called Citius Baseball, and Santos has been able to regularly throw his bullpens and record his pitching data with a Rapsodo unit. That information will be useful for clubs who debate taking Santos early in the draft. He could sneak into the first round or go in the supplemental or second rounds. Santos is committed to Maryland.

• April, 2022 Scouting Report
  BA Grade: 50/Extreme
  
  Track Record: The Astros selected Santos No. 72 overall in the 2020 draft despite him missing his entire senior high school season due to the pandemic. Rapsodo data from Santos&#39 bullpen sessions during the shutdown, coupled with his continued presence on the showcase circuit, gave Houston confidence in its selection. Santos did not appear in a professional game until 2021, when he threw 41.2 innings for Low-A Fayetteville and demonstrated some of the potential that tantalized the Astros.
  
  Scouting Report: Santos sits in the low-to-mid 90s with a high-spin four-seam fastball that can sneak up on hitters and always seems to miss bats. His fastball is usually 91-93 mph, but can touch 95 in spurts. Santos&#39 ability to spin both the four-seamer and a plus curveball align well with the Astros&#39 pitching philosophies. His confidence is growing in a fading changeup that he barely threw in high school, and it now has average potential. Continued progression of the changeup and a slider will serve Santos well if he hopes to start in the major leagues. Santos&#39 arm action and failure to repeat his delivery consistently leave some wondering whether he&#39s better suited as a reliever, but his strike-throwing ability stood out throughout the draft circuit.
  
  The Future: Perhaps no young pitcher in Houston&#39s system has more upside as a potential starter than Santos. He&#39ll need to refine his repeatability and curtail some of his bouts of bad command, but hope is high given his age and relative inexperience.
  
  Scouting Grades: Fastball: 55. Curveball: 60. Changeup: 50. Control: 50.
• December, 2021 Scouting Report
  Track Record: The Astros selected Santos No. 72 overall in the 2020 draft despite him missing his entire senior high school season due to the pandemic. Rapsodo data from Santos’ bullpen sessions during the shutdown, coupled with his continued presence on the showcase circuit, gave Houston confidence in its selection. Santos did not appear in a professional game until 2021, when he threw 41.2 innings for Low-A Fayetteville and demonstrated some of the potential that tantalized the Astros.
  
  Scouting Report: Santos sits in the low-to-mid 90s with a high-spin four-seam fastball that can sneak up on hitters and always seems to miss bats. His fastball is usually 91-93 mph, but can touch 95 in spurts. Santos’ ability to spin both the four-seamer and a plus curveball align well with the Astros’ pitching philosophies. His confidence is growing in a fading changeup that he barely threw in high school, and it now has average potential. Continued progression of the changeup and a slider will serve Santos well if he hopes to start in the major leagues. Santos’ arm action and failure to repeat his delivery consistently leave some wondering whether he’s better suited as a reliever, but his strike-throwing ability stood out throughout the draft circuit.
  
  The Future: Perhaps no young pitcher in Houston’s system has more upside as a potential starter than Santos. He’ll need to refine his repeatability and curtail some of his bouts of bad command, but hope is high given his age and relative inexperience.
  
• July, 2021 Scouting Report
  Santos' consistency has a long way to go, but his low-90s fastball has been tweaked to generate life up above hitters' bats and he's working on a hard, short low-80s slider to go with his more advanced changeup. He has the makings of three pitches, but he has battled his control.
• March, 2021 Scouting Report
  Fastball: 55. Changeup: 50. Curveball: 60. Control: 55.
  
  TRACK RECORD: Major League Baseball made the Astros surrender their firstand second-round picks in 2020 as penalties for their illegal sign-stealing. With their first pick at No. 72 overall, Houston drafted Santos, who didn't get to pitch during the 2020 high school season in New York due to the pandemic. Instead, Santos regularly threw bullpens at the Citius Baseball facility his father co-owns and sent his Rapsodo data. After signing for $1.25 million, Santos went to instructional league in Florida.
  
  SCOUTING REPORT: Santos pitches off a low-to-mid-90s fastball with a high spin rate that should help him get swings and misses when he pitches up in the zone. He shows feel for two secondary pitches. The most advanced one is his curveball, which is a potential plus pitch which can miss bats with its tight rotation. His changeup--a pitch Santos didn't really need in high school--made strides in 2020 and gives him a chance for a third average or better pitch. Santos has a strong, athletic build and the strike-throwing ability to project as a starter.
  
  THE FUTURE: High school pitchers are risky--especially given the lack of looks at Santos during his draft year--but he has one of the best combinations of upside and starter traits in the Astros' system.
• December, 2020 Scouting Report
  Fastball: 55. Changeup: 50. Curveball: 60. Control: 55.
  
  TRACK RECORD: Major League Baseball made the Astros surrender their firstand second-round picks in 2020 as penalties for their illegal sign-stealing. With their first pick at No. 72 overall, Houston drafted Santos, who didn't get to pitch during the 2020 high school season in New York due to the pandemic. Instead, Santos regularly threw bullpens at the Citius Baseball facility his father co-owns and sent his Rapsodo data. After signing for $1.25 million, Santos went to instructional league in Florida.
  
  SCOUTING REPORT: Santos pitches off a low-to-mid-90s fastball with a high spin rate that should help him get swings and misses when he pitches up in the zone. He shows feel for two secondary pitches. The most advanced one is his curveball, which is a potential plus pitch which can miss bats with its tight rotation. His changeup--a pitch Santos didn't really need in high school--made strides in 2020 and gives him a chance for a third average or better pitch. Santos has a strong, athletic build and the strike-throwing ability to project as a starter.
  
  THE FUTURE: High school pitchers are risky--especially given the lack of looks at Santos during his draft year--but he has one of the best combinations of upside and starter traits in the Astros' system.
• December, 2019 Scouting Report
  One of the top pitchers in the Northeast, Santos never got into a game for his high school this spring because of the shortened 2020 season, but got plenty of looks from scouts last summer. Santos throws from a three-quarters arm slot with a fastball that gets into the mid-90s and flashes plus. He pairs that with two secondary offerings that have plus potential, with plenty of spin on his curveball and a changeup he worked on over the offseason. After throwing in an Alabama event this spring, scouts noted the improvement of the changeup, though his velocity wasn’t yet quite as high as it had been over the summer. Santos added weight and strength to his frame and now stands around 6-foot-3, 215 pounds. He now has the build along with the strike-throwing ability and athleticism that portend a future starting role. There will be more risk with Santos due to the fact that teams simply couldn’t see him much this spring, but his father co-owns a facility in New York called Citius Baseball, and Santos has been able to regularly throw his bullpens and record his pitching data with a Rapsodo unit. That information will be useful for clubs who debate taking Santos early in the draft. He could sneak into the first round or go in the supplemental or second rounds. Santos is committed to Maryland.