Rangers Finally Give Winston Santos Chance to Make Major League Debut

It wouldn't be unfair to accuse the Texas Rangers of forgetting about Winston Santos.

The Rangers called up their No. 5 pitching prospect, per MLB Pipeline, last Wednesday when they were in Miami. Texas promoted him from the minors before that game and sent another top pitching prospect, Jose Corniell, back to Triple-A Round Rock. He pitched the night before.

The Rangers were preparing for the third game of their 10-game road trip with no day off. At some point, Texas was going to need Santos, and he would make his MLB debut.

It took a week for the Rangers to give Santos the ball, but on Wednesday he took the final two innings for the Rangers in their 9-4 loss to the Cleveland Guardians. Now he can finally say he’s pitching in a Major League Game.

Winston Santos’ Debut

Welcome To The Show, Winston! pic.twitter.com/K98qba7y9r
— Texas Rangers (@Rangers) July 1, 2026

Santos entered in the seventh inning with reliever Cole Winn in trouble. He allowed a Steven Kwan triple, who scored on a single by Chase DeLauter, to give Cleveland a 6-3 lead. At that point, Rangers manager Skip Schumaker handed the right-hander the ball with DeLauter on first.

He had a rough start. DeLauter stole second and then moved to third on a wild pitch. He scored after a second wild pitch by Santos, which walked Rhys Hoskins. Santos then retired the next three hitters.

He got a second inning and allowed a two-run home run to former Rangers catcher Austin Hedges after giving up a leadoff single to Kahlil Watson. He retired the next three hitters.

Santos finished his two innings with two hits, two earned runs, a walk and a strikeout, leaving him with an ERA of 9.00.

While Santos waited for his chance to pitch the only notable pitching move the Rangers made was to sign Chris Paddack on Monday, a move that required them to make a 40-man roster move. Texas designated Paddack for assignment the next day and recalled reliever Gavin Collyer from Round Rock.

The 24-year-old from the Dominican Republic remains one of the Rangers’ most prized pitching prospects. He joined the organization as an international free agent in 2021, and Texas moved him to the 40-man roster last November to protect him from the Rule 5 draft, along with Emiliano Teodo. Santos has played in the MLB Futures Game and was name a Fall Star at the Arizona Fall League last November.

He missed the start of this season after injuring his hand on a comebacker during Major League spring training. He is 1-3 with a 7.44 ERA in 11 starts with Double-A Frisco.

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