Enyel De Los Santos Bio
Enyel De Los Santos Polanco, born December 25, 1995, is a Dominican professional baseball pitcher for the Houston Astros of Major League Baseball (MLB). A right-handed reliever, he has spent parts of eight MLB seasons with the Philadelphia Phillies, Pittsburgh Pirates, Cleveland Guardians, San Diego Padres, New York Yankees, Chicago White Sox, and Atlanta Braves before landing in Houston. He is widely recognized for pitching an immaculate inning in 2022 and for recording the only two-pitch inning in major league history in 2025. De Los Santos originally signed with the Seattle Mariners as an international free agent in 2014.
Early Life and Background
Enyel De Los Santos Polanco was born on December 25, 1995, in San Pedro de Macorís, a city in the Dominican Republic long known for producing major league talent. He grew up in the same baseball-rich region that has produced generations of MLB players, and his path to professional baseball followed the traditional international route from the Dominican Republic to the United States. He completed his secondary education at Liceo Gastón Fernández de Lino, where he balanced schooling with the amateur ball that would eventually attract professional scouts.
Path to Baseball
De Los Santos signed with the Seattle Mariners as an international free agent on July 17, 2014, at age 18. He began his professional career the following year in the lower levels of the Mariners system, splitting 2015 between the Arizona League Mariners and the Everett AquaSox in the short-season Northwest League. The Mariners traded him and outfielder Nelson Ward to the San Diego Padres in November 2015 in exchange for veteran reliever Joaquín Benoit, a deal that quickly accelerated his climb through the minors.
Enyel De Los Santos Career
Early Career (2015–2017)
After the trade, the Padres sent De Los Santos to the Single-A Fort Wayne TinCaps to begin the 2016 season. He went 3–2 with a 2.91 ERA in 11 games, including seven starts, before earning a promotion to the High-A Lake Elsinore Storm. He finished 2016 with a 5–3 record and a 4.35 ERA in 15 starts and was named a Midwest League All-Star. In 2017, he advanced to Double-A San Antonio, where he went 10–6 with a 3.78 ERA, a 1.19 WHIP, and 138 strikeouts in 150 innings across 26 games, finishing among the Texas League leaders in ERA, WHIP, and strikeouts. He was twice named Texas League Pitcher of the Week.
San Diego Padres to Philadelphia Phillies (2017–2020)
On December 15, 2017, the Padres traded De Los Santos to the Philadelphia Phillies in exchange for shortstop Freddy Galvis. He opened 2018 with the Triple-A Lehigh Valley IronPigs, where he was named Phillies Minor League Co-Pitcher of the Month for April and was selected to the 2018 All-Star Futures Game. He went 10–5 with a 2.63 ERA in 126⅔ innings at Lehigh Valley before the Phillies promoted him to the majors on July 10, 2018. That same day, he earned the win in his MLB debut against the New York Mets, allowing three runs and striking out six across 6⅓ innings. In 2019, he bounced between Lehigh Valley and Philadelphia, going 0–1 with a 7.36 ERA at the big-league level. He was designated for assignment in August 2020 during the pandemic-shortened season and cleared waivers outright to Triple-A.
Pittsburgh Pirates and Cleveland Guardians (2021–2023)
After the Phillies selected his contract on May 4, 2021, De Los Santos appeared in 28 innings for Philadelphia before being designated for assignment again in September. The Pittsburgh Pirates claimed him off waivers a day later. He pitched 7⅓ innings for Pittsburgh before being outrighted in November 2021, after which he elected free agency. On December 1, 2021, he signed a minor league deal with an invitation to spring training from the Cleveland Guardians. He opened 2022 with the Triple-A Columbus Clippers and was added to the major league roster as a COVID-19 replacement. On September 27, 2022, he struck out the side on nine pitches against the Tampa Bay Rays, recording a 3.78 ERA season and finishing 5–0 with a 3.04 ERA in 53⅓ innings. In 2023, he made 70 relief appearances for Cleveland, posting a 3.29 ERA with 62 strikeouts in 65⅔ innings.
Padres, Yankees, and White Sox (2024)
The Guardians traded De Los Santos back to the Padres on November 17, 2023, in exchange for reliever Scott Barlow. He made 44 appearances for San Diego in 2024, compiling a 4.46 ERA and 48 strikeouts in 40⅓ innings. On July 30, 2024, the Padres sent him and Thomas Balboni Jr. to the New York Yankees for outfielder Brandon Lockridge. He struggled in a brief Yankees stint, posting a 14.21 ERA across 6⅓ innings before being designated for assignment on August 14, 2024. The Chicago White Sox claimed him off waivers on August 17, and he rebounded with a 3.63 ERA and 13 strikeouts in 17⅓ innings. Chicago non-tendered him after the season, making him a free agent.
Atlanta Braves Era (2024–2025)
On December 15, 2024, De Los Santos signed a minor league contract with the Atlanta Braves and made the club’s Opening Day roster after his contract was selected on March 21, 2025. He appeared in 43 games for the Braves, registering a 4.53 ERA with 38 strikeouts across 43⅔ innings. He was designated for assignment on July 30, 2025, following Atlanta’s acquisition of reliever Tyler Kinley, cleared waivers, was sent outright to the Triple-A Gwinnett Stripers, and elected free agency rather than accept the minor league assignment.
Houston Astros Era (2025–Present)
On August 7, 2025, De Los Santos signed a major league contract with the Houston Astros, where he has slotted into the back end of the bullpen. During the eleventh inning on August 16, 2025, he authored a unique slice of baseball history by completing a three-out inning on only two pitches. Ryan Mountcastle flew out on the first pitch, and Dylan Beavers lined out to second baseman Ramón Urías, who threw to Carlos Correa at third to tag the automatic runner and finish a double play. Through games of mid-June 2026, De Los Santos has appeared in a major league-leading volume of relief work for the Astros, posting a 4.42 ERA and 354 strikeouts across his full MLB career.
Notable Events and Milestones
De Los Santos’s most celebrated achievement is the immaculate inning he pitched for the Cleveland Guardians against the Tampa Bay Rays on September 27, 2022, striking out the side on nine consecutive strikes. He surpassed that feat on August 16, 2025, with the Houston Astros, recording the only two-pitch, three-out inning in major league history. The performance added another unique line to his growing reputation as a high-strikeout late-inning arm.
Enyel De Los Santos Career Wins
Enyel De Los Santos Polanco’s career wins have been spread across the minor leagues and a major-league ledger built largely on quality starts and high-leverage relief work. His first major league victory came in his debut on July 10, 2018, when he allowed three runs and struck out six in 6⅓ innings against the New York Mets. He has added other wins in short MLB stints and has piled up victories in the minor leagues, including a 10-win season at Double-A San Antonio in 2017 and a 10-win season at Triple-A Lehigh Valley in 2018.
MLB Highlights
Across his MLB stints with Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, San Diego, the Yankees, the White Sox, Atlanta, and Houston, De Los Santos has collected wins primarily as a starter early in his career and as a reliever in later seasons. His debut win over the Mets remains the most memorable, while his work in Cleveland’s bullpen from 2022 to 2023 produced his most consistent stretch of major league results.
Enyel De Los Santos Family
Family Background and Baseball Lineage
Enyel De Los Santos Polanco was raised in San Pedro de Macorís, a Dominican baseball hotbed whose youth academies have produced hundreds of major leaguers. He came up through the country’s amateur ranks and signed his first professional contract at age 18, which marked the start of his family-oriented path into the game.
Personal Life
De Los Santos keeps his personal life largely private, and public details about a spouse, partner, or children have not been confirmed by reliable sources. He spends his offseasons in the Dominican Republic and has continued to build his career in the United States since his 2018 MLB debut.
2025 Season Performance
Enyel De Los Santos Polanco opened 2025 in the Atlanta Braves bullpen, his first full major league camp since 2021, and made the Opening Day roster. He posted a 4.53 ERA with 38 strikeouts in 43⅔ innings across 43 appearances before being designated for assignment following Atlanta’s July 30 trade for Tyler Kinley. He cleared waivers and elected free agency, drawing immediate interest from contending teams seeking late-inning help.
On August 7, 2025, he signed a major league contract with the Houston Astros, who inserted him into a playoff push. Just nine days later, on August 16, he authored one of the strangest statistical lines in baseball history, completing a three-out inning on only two pitches and cementing his place in the record book. He finished 2025 working in middle and late relief for an Astros club that remained in postseason contention, and his career momentum carried directly into the 2026 season. As of mid-June 2026, his cumulative major league line stands at a 20–10 record, a 4.42 ERA, and 354 strikeouts.
