Texas Rangers Prospect's Dominant Spring Breakout Performance Wows Expert

The Texas Rangers made a splash at MLB's second annual Spring Breakout event, a showcase for prospects to continue competing at a high level in the middle of spring training.

The Rangers' group of prospects squared off against that of the San Francisco Giants in a glimpse into both organizations' respective futures,

A top Rangers prospect showed another reason for belief in the team's long term outlook on the mound, as Winston Santos took the ball and absolutely dominated in one of the biggest opportunities he's had to make an impression in his pro career.

Santos, the No. 5 prospect in the Texas system according to MLB Pipeline, caught the eye of one of the top talent evaluators in the baseball world, The Athletic's Keith Law.

Writing in The Athletic (paid subscription required) Law broke down the specifics he saw during Santos' three-inning, six-stirkeout performance in which he did not surrender a walk, a hit or a run.

"Santos was 95-98, and hitters were whiffing on it, and he showed feel for his changeup and moved it around the zone well," Law wrote in his evaluation. "The slider was hard at 85-88, and he tried to backdoor it to several left-handed hitters with mixed results; it’s effective because there’s some power to it."

Santos held the Giants bats at bay, and to observers, it did not even seem like his opponents stood all that much of a chance.

"The fastball/changeup combo was more than enough to rip through a good lineup once, though," Law added. "After Winston was done, I needed a cigarette."

Santos, the six-foot tall right-hander signed with the Rangers out of the Dominican Republic, and he quickly made his presence felt in 2022 when he made 22 starts for the Low-A Down East Wood Ducks while posting a 3.49 ERA.

He followed that up in 2023 with a rough campaign with High-A Hickory, but he bounced back a year ago with 12 starts of 81-strikeout, 2.80-ERA ball over 64.1 innings pitched.

Santos did not quite make the cut for MLB Pipeline's' 2025 preseason top 100 list, but there is little question that he'll find himself in there in the midseason update if he can get off to a strong start this year with Double-A Frisco.

The Rangers have former college teammates Jack Leiter and Kumar Rocker poised to lead their starting rotation ino the future, and Santos should not be too far behind them to add another quality arm to the mix in Arlington.

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