It’s rare to get on-the-job training in the major leagues. But that’s what the White Sox are doing with Sergio Santos as he converts from infielder to relief pitcher — and perhaps eventually to closer.
Manager Ozzie Guillen admits he has allowed Santos to take baby steps, but he progressively has put him into more challenging roles, perhaps with the idea he could be the ninth-inning savior someday soon. And why not? Santos hasn’t given up a run in 16 of his 17 outings, including one-inning stints Friday and Saturday.
“I felt good (Saturday), better than the day before,” he said.
While he has not been thrown into a save situation yet, he does have two “holds.”
“To be honest, I never thought he’d pitch this well at the big league level when he has only a few months of pitching.
“We have put him in different spots to see how he handles himself — (he does) very well. I was glad when he ran into trouble in Detroit, just to see exactly what we have, to see his makeup. He was very, very, very good. (We want to) make sure we’re using him in the right spots.”
“It’s just getting more and more experience,” Santos said of the process. “The ups and downs of being a position player has helped me.”
If he is to be a closer, the biggest test is yet to come — the real mental part of recovering from a blown save. That’s something Bobby Jenks learned at a young age.
“I hope Santos has Bobby’s mentality,” Guillen said. “If Santos has Bobby’s mentality, he can have a good career. When he was a baby, he was that way. The best thing Bobby has is his mentality. It’s kind of like he doesn’t care what he did today, he’ll just come back tomorrow.”
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