Santiago Florez

2017
DSL: 2-5-0, 4.56 ERA, 1.52 WHIP, 53.1 IP, 6.4 BB/9, 5.1 K/9

Florez stayed in the rotation throughout the DSL season. Especially considering that he was only a little over 17, that shows the Pirates considered him one of the team’s best pitching prospects. He got reasonable results, although his walk and K rates were bad.

2018
R:  5-2-0, 4.15 ERA, 1.39 WHIP, 43.1 IP, 4.8 BB/9, 7.3 K/9

Florez made ten starts in the GCL.  His performance was uneven, with some very good games and some weaker ones.  Mediocre control was one consistent pattern.  Opponents weren’t able to drive the ball much against him, slugging only .280.

2019
R+:  2-2-0, 3.46 ERA, 1.34 WHIP, 41.2 IP, 4.5 BB/9, 7.8 K/9

Florez spent the season in the Bristol rotation.  He put up similar numbers to the previous season, but made progress with his pitches.

2020
DNP

2021
A:  5-2-1, 1.37 ERA, 0.85 WHIP, 52.2 IP, 2.4 BB/9, 12.1 K/9
A+:  3-3-0, 7.53 ERA, 1.81 WHIP, 43.0 IP, 4.4 BB/9, 7.5 K/9

Florez split his season evenly between Bradenton and Greensboro, making nine starts at each stop.  The similarity, though, ended there.  He dominated at Bradenton, with opponents batting only .165.  After the promotion, opponents hit almost exactly twice that, at .329.  One possible explanation is that he was throwing a great many breaking balls at Bradenton.  The pitch was very effective at that level, but evidently didn’t work as well at the higher level.  He also wasn’t throwing quite as hard as he had in 2019.  For the season, Florez had a huge reverse platoon split.

2022
A+:  2-4-0, 6.50 ERA, 1.57 WHIP, 53.2 IP, 4.1 BB/9, 8.6 K/9

Florez returned to Greensboro for the season and pitched in relief apart from four starts.  He continued to struggle with the strike zone and opponents put up a 280/368/441 line.  Florez again had a large reverse platoon split; left-handed hitters batted just .624 against him, while right-handed hitters torched him for a .929 OPS.

Florez has had two rough seasons and doesn’t appear ready for AA.