2024 Cleveland Guardians Prospect Scouting Report: #22 INF/OF Deyvison De Los Santos

Will De Los Santos' swing changes from the second half of 2023 allow him to survive skipping Double-A in 2024 at age 20?

Justin Lada

Mar 14, 2024

Deyvison De Los Santos Bio

Age (2024 season): 21
Acquired: 2023 Rule 5 Pick (ARZ)
2023 Level: Double-A
Height: 5’11
Weight: 185
Bats: Right
Throws: Right

Deyvison De Los Santos Stats

PA: 481
AVG/OBP/SLG: .254/.297/.431
2B: 16
HR: 20
SB: 5/6
K%/BB%: 26%/5.2%

Deyvison De Los Santos Stats 2024 Scouting Grades

Hit: 30
Power: 70
Speed: 30
Defense: 40
Arm: 45
Overall: 40
Risk: Extreme
ETA: 2024

Build & Background

Built like an NFL running back or safety, De Los Santos is barrel chested and has a strong, thick lower half. He also has impressive biceps. Definitely a maxed out physical build despite only being 21 years old. A 2019 international free agent of the Diamondbacks by way of his native Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Cleveland selected De Los Santos in the 2023 Rule 5 draft.

What De Los Santos Does Well

Big time raw power is the carrying tool for De Los Santos. It’s the tool that has to drive his entire career. There are few in the Guardians system that can match De Los Santos in this department. His muscular biceps and barrel chest, and thick lower half give him a lot of strength to work with. Arm strength wise, he’s good enough to play across the diamond and would profile well in the outfield. When he hits it well, he shows power to all fields.

Where De Los Santos Needs to Improve

De Los Santos was placed on the developmental list last season so the Diamondbacks could bring him back their main minor league complex and work with him on some swing changes. He doesn’t make enough contact in a way that allows him to utilize that power in-game. When he does make contact, he’s prone to groundballs and chasing poor pitches due to approach and potentially pitch recognition issues. The bat is his carrying tool but contact has been an issue. There’s no speed to speak of as a benefit to his game on the field. He lacks reliable hands at third base and struggles with throwing accuracy. A move to the outfield would likely be a better home for his arm strength while downplaying his accuracy issues. His range in the outfield might be a question mark too.

Key Stats

After De Los Santos return from his stint on the developmental list in Arizona, he hit .312/.333/.580 with 12 doubles, 13 homers, in 213 plate appearances, good for a 132 wRC+. It did, however, come with a .370 BABIP, 25.8 K% and just a 2.8 BB%.

Before that stint, he was hitting .203/.276/.330 with a 24 K%, and 8.3 BB%, four doubles, seven homers and a 61 wRC+.

It’s hard to know if his numbers after his stint in on the developmental list are sustainable enough to signify real, tangible changes to his profile and ability to hit enough to get to his power. The approach got worse and he seemed to at least make more hard contact to get his BABIP up, though homers are not included in BABIP, indicating a real source of batted ball luck on other hits.

Intangibles

Give De Los Santos credit for being able to work on those swing changes and basically being demoted to refine things, and then go back and improve his numbers, no matter their level of sustainability. He’s also been asked to work at first base and right field in Guardians spring training. All of that is needed in order for him to stick as a Rule 5 pick, so of course he’d be open to it. But it does still require work ethic and player buy-in, which are all good tasks here.

Future

It’s truly a lot to ask a 20/21 year old to step into the big leagues with his troublesome approach and lack of contact skills. That appears to be a factor in Cleveland’s preference for contact hitters, as it allows them to survive more at the big league level. Surviving in the majors right now fro De Los Santos might be asking for a lot. If he makes the Guardians club out of spring training, he’ll see time at first, DH and right field, maybe against lefties. Cleveland must have bought into some of his swing changes last year sticking going forward. I think the most likely outcome here is De Los Santos heads back to Arizona at some point because Cleveland can’t hide him too much on the roster without risking hurting his development, but also not being able to play him because his approach will make it tough to succeed at the big league level right now. He’s got the upside of a 30 homer corner bat though, which Cleveland doesn’t have a lot of, which is probably why they liked him in the Rule 5 draft. We’ll see how long he sticks in spring training or on the major league roster this year.

Role

40 - Bat-only corner profile with big power, low OBP