When the Pittsburgh Pirates entered 2026, they penciled right-handed reliever Dennis Santana into the closer role. Santana became one of the Pirates’ best relievers between 2024 and 2025. Between the two years, Santana pitched to a 2.28 ERA, 2.91 FIP, and 0.89 WHIP over 114.2 innings of work. He struck out 24.9% of batters he faced, while only dishing out a free pass 6.3% of the time. However, while it is still early into the 2026 campaign, free agent addition Gregory Soto is making a stronger case to stay as the Pirates’ closer for now.
The Bucs picked up the hard-throwing left-hander on a one-year deal worth $7.75 million this past winter. Soto ended 2025 with mixed results. He had a respectable 4.18 ERA, but a strong 3.42 FIP. He posted a career-low 8.6% BB% and struck out just over a quarter of opponents with a 25.1% K%. Soto had a quality 0.60 HR/9 ratio and sat in the 97th percentile of barrel rate, at 4%.
Soto has become lights out for the Pirates so far this season. He has only allowed three earned runs over 19 innings of work. Although his walk rate has climbed back up to 10%, his K% has also risen significantly to 35.7%. Opponents can’t get solid contact off of Soto. He has held them to just an 83 MPH exit velocity (98th percentile) and a 2.7% barrel rate (91st percentile).
Soto can thank his sweeper and four-seam fastball for his early-season success. He is utilizing both pitches far more often this year compared to last year. Soto used his sweeper just 7.6% of the time last year, but is now utilizing it at a 28.1% rate. It has induced a whiff rate of 48.7% and has held opposing batters to a .170 xwOBA. While it has lost about two ticks of velocity, going from 84.3 MPH to 82.1 MPH on average, the pitch has gained both vertical and horizontal movement. Soto also used his fastball 7.1% of the time in 2025, upping that to 18.5% this year. It is another highly effective pitch, with a 25.1% whiff percentage, and .213 xwOBA.
Santana has had a lot of ups and downs so far in 2026. While he has only allowed seven earned runs in 16.2 innings (most of which came in just one outing when he blew a save against the St. Louis Cardinals), Santana has only struck out ten opponents, and has allowed nine to reach via free pass. His 87.8 MPH exit velocity is in the 68th percentile, but his 10% barrel rate sits in the 28th percentile.
Santana’s stuff is also declining at a worrying pace. His slider is down by nearly two whole MPH from 87 MPH in 2025 to 85.5 MPH this year. His fastball continues to get slower. When the Pirates first acquired Santana early in the summer of 2024, he averaged 95.8 MPH with his four-seamer and was in the 73rd percentile of fastball velocity. His fastball lost a tick in 2025 to 94.7 MPH, but was still in the 56th percentile. It has once again slowed down, this time to 93.8 MPH, and is now in just the 39th percentile of fastball velocity.
Santana is trending downward, while Soto is trending upward. Unless Santana can turn things around, Soto has to remain as the Pirates’ closer for now. He has plenty of experience as a closer as well, with two All-Star appearances in 2021 and 2022 as the Detroit Tigers’ main 9th-inning guy. While Santana has proven to be a solid reliever in the past, Soto is the most dominant bullpen arm the Bucs have right now. The Pirates are lucky to have this good of an alternative to Santana.
