CLEVELAND -- Enyel De Los Santos joined the Cleveland history books.
In the seventh inning of the Guardians’ 6-5 loss to the Rays in 11 innings at Progressive Field on Tuesday night, De Los Santos tossed the fourth immaculate inning in club history. The last to accomplish the feat was Zach Plesac on Sept. 28, 2020.
“There's less immaculate innings than there are no-hitters,” starter Shane Bieber said. “It's more rare, technically. What a feat. I hope one day I'll be able to get one. Both he and Plea have done it, and I've seen them both. What a special thing.”
Immaculate innings aren’t as rare as they used to be, considering there have already been six this season, but three strikeouts by three batters on three pitches each still deserves some recognition.
De Los Santos first faced Christian Bethancourt and set him down with a slider-fastball-slider combination. Jose Siri stepped to the plate next and was punched out on a 95 mph heater, then Taylor Walls fouled off a heater, watched a changeup and was fanned on a 95 fastball to secure the immaculate inning, as he confidently strutted off the field.
“It was fun to watch him get that excited,” manager Terry Francona said. “Because he doesn't usually show too much emotion, but he was kind of fired up. That was pretty good.”
De Los Santos isn’t one to steal the headlines like this every game. He’s been used sporadically throughout the season and often gets lost in the shuffle when it comes to national attention. But none of that means he hasn’t been effective.
De Los Santos wasn’t some huge offseason signing for the Guardians. He was inked to a Minor League deal in December with a big league invitation to Spring Training. Every season, Cleveland seems to find at least one non-roster invitee who emerges into a pivotal reliever throughout the year.
This time, it’s been De Los Santos, even if it wasn’t obvious that it’d be him right off the bat. He didn’t make the Opening Day roster, and once he was called up, De Los Santos was sent back to Triple-A Columbus in May.
But eventually, enough strong performances -- some multi-inning efforts -- proved he could be someone to step into high-leverage spots, including filling in for closer Emmanuel Clase when he wasn’t available earlier in the year and while James Karinchak was still on the injured list.
De Los Santos has only continued to progress since then.
“Well now he’s throwing his changeup to left-handers,” Francona said. “From the first day we saw him, quiet, professional, hard working. … He probably should have made the team, but it was such a short spring. It was hard. But he's been really good for us, man.”
Since Aug. 11, De Los Santos has pitched to a 2.45 ERA in 15 appearances. He’s earned the right to continue to be used regularly and even take on higher-leverage situations. But the Guardians’ bullpen won’t be the easiest to piece together in the postseason. The team will have to make its first move as early as Friday in order to get Plesac back on the active roster.
It’s inevitable that Cleveland will have to make difficult decisions as the postseason gets closer, especially when it comes to messing with a bullpen that entered Tuesday with the fifth-lowest ERA in the Majors (3.09). However, with the way De Los Santos has pitched all year, especially down the stretch, he’s all but a guarantee to be on the roster in the Wild Card Series, which will begin Oct. 7 at Progressive Field.
And if De Los Santos can tap into the stuff he boasted against the Rays, he could become one of the unsung heroes of this young team.
“He's been great,” Bieber said. “There's a few names in that bullpen that can get lost in the shuffle with how well the bullpen as a whole has developed and performed. … He's been lock-down down the stretch and an integral part of that bullpen. To have him to rely on heavily and to kind of lean on has been big for us.”