While his second lat injury of the season was not considered as serious as the first, there isn’t enough time for Steven Brault to return in 2021, and the Pirates placed the left-hander on the 60-day injured list.
In a corresponding move, the club claimed right-hander Enyel De Los Santos off waivers from the Phillies.
Brault suffered the injury in his last start Friday and was pulled after just two innings with what the club called a recurrent left lat strain. His first lat injury occurred in spring training and sidelined him for most of the season. He did not make his debut until August 4.
He will finish the year 0-3 with a 5.86 ERA over seven starts, with 14 of his 18 runs allowed coming in his last three outings.
For the Pirates’ rotation, they will almost certainly promote someone from Class AAA Indianapolis to fill Brault’s spot in the rotation. Possible replacements could include Miguel Yajure, who himself missed a significant amount of time this year with a forearm injury but is pitching for Indianapolis again, or Max Kranick.
"We've been pretty diligent with staying with the six-man just for health and workload concerns, and I do not see us going back," Derek Shelton said. "It may be like one rotation through if we had to, but I don't see us going back to that."
Going on a six-man rotation, Brault’s next turn would have been this upcoming Friday. The club hasn't made a decision yet of if JT Brubaker, who is taking a brief break from throwing, will be able to return form his shoulder injury this season.
De Los Santos is a reliever, so he won’t be in that rotation mix. The 25-year-old has split time between the majors and minors this year, and has pitched to a 6.75 ERA over 28 innings with the Phillies. He does have an impressive 30.7% strikeout rate, but it comes with a 10.2% walk rate and allowing seven home runs over 26 appearances.
He primarily uses a four-seam fastball that averages 95 mph while mixing in a low-spin slider and changeup.
This is De Los Santos’ last option year, meaning he will have to make the opening day roster next season or be exposed to waivers.
