The Houston Astros are reportedly planning on calling up right-hander Alimber Santa, one of the better relief pitcher prospects in the upper Minors. Santa, who excelled in the Pacific Coast League, will look to provide relief for an Astros bullpen that has not met expectations in 2026.
A Look at Santa
Once upon a time, Alimber Santa was a starting pitcher prospect in the Astros’ farm system. Three years ago, Santa made 14 starts and tossed 87 innings for Low-A Fayetteville. But despite 119 strikeouts in the Carolina League, a good early sign of his talent, Santa walked 74 batters.
The Astros moved him into a relief role shortly thereafter, and that’s when things began to accelerate for the now-23-year-old.
He struck out 26 over 15 innings in Low-A a year later, then skipped High-A to move to Corpus Christi. Santa averaged almost one walk per inning but 2025 is when things turned. Even though walks were still a concern, Santa finished in the top five in the Texas League in GB% before he moved to Triple-A.
After a stint with the big club as a non-roster invite, Santa returned to Triple-A this season. His numbers, overall, were very good for a hitter-friendly circuit. Twenty-four strikeouts over 19 innings, no home runs allowed, and a 1.42 ERA with the Sugar Land Space Cowboys.
From an advanced numbers point of view, Santa’s numbers were equally impressive. The 23-year-old sported a GB% of 51.2%, while he only conceded two balls (4.9%) considered a barrel based upon exit velocity & launch angle.
Additionally, both left and right-handed hitters batted under .200 off the righty.
Santa is a three-pitch pitcher, with a fastball that ran up to 97 MPH with Triple-A Sugar Land, as well as a slider and sweeper. For a reliever, that’s a relatively straightforward pitch mix: a heater and two breaking balls. However, it’s not a traditional arsenal.
For one, Santa doesn’t have a true four-seamer. Yes, in the chart that is attached below, it will show a four-seamer. However, it is, by a pitch-profile standpoint, a sinker that was labeled as a four-seamer by Statcast in the Minors. Low spin rate, as is the case with two-seamers, and a pitch that showed some running action and was used up in the zone, as well.
Between the slider and sweeper, the latter (40.9%) was more of a swing-and-miss pitch for the 5’10” righty.
Per reports, including from the Houston Chronicle, the Astros are expected to officially call up Alimber Santa before the team takes on the Cubs in Chicago during Memorial Day weekend.
Analysis
We’re not going to say that Christmas is coming early for the Astros. However, it is sufficient to state that the Astros could use bullpen help.
As of May 21, the Astros’ bullpen combined for a 5.72 ERA, the worst among the 30 Major League ballclubs. Aside from that, Houston’s pen also has the second-worst BB/9 (5.3), and a K/9 (8.4) that is in the bottom-third of the league. Plus, Houston was tied with the most home runs (35) allowed by relievers this season with the Nationals.
Washington’s bullpen, by the way, threw over 30 more innings than Houston to get to that number.
It’s been a grind to find consistency for the Astros this season, and that includes that aforementioned bullpen. Josh Hader hasn’t thrown an MLB pitch yet this season, and Bryan Abreu‘s been dealing with problems limiting the long balls & walks this season. Abreu forced the ‘Stros to get creative with the late innings, as Enyel De Los Santos (3) and Bryan King (4) both have received save chances, too.
Don’t expect Santa to help in the late innings, at least not yet. However, he’s been a potent arm who picked up swing-and-miss, but also limited the hard contact. This has been a problem for Houston.
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