Dennis Santana

Dennis Santana recorded only two outs in the top of the ninth inning on Monday, but not before he allowed four runs on four hits and two walks in his second blown save of the year. The Cardinals won, 4-2.

Fantasy Impact

Santana retired the first batter he faced in the ninth before allowing back-to-back solo home runs to Pedro Pages and JJ Wetherholt to tie the game at 2-2. A walk, a single, another walk, and a double followed as the Cardinals took a 4-2 lead. Santana is now just 2-for-4 in save chances and saw his ERA rise from 0.69 to 3.29 following the outing. Although he's had most of the save opportunities, he hasn't exactly had a stranglehold on the job to begin with. Monday's outing adds to the uncertainty surrounding the closer's gig in Pittsburgh. Gregory Soto would like be the next man up with, potentially, Isaac Mattson waiting in the wings if the Pirates decide to make a switch. The likely scenario, however, is that Santana remains in the role, but stay tuned.

Dennis Santana earned his second save of the season on Wednesday, pitching around a one-out hit batter, to help the Pirates to a 2-0 win over the Nationals.

Fantasy Impact

Santana threw 21 pitches in his scoreless inning to earn his second save of the season. Meanwhile, Gregory Soto pitched a scoreless eighth with a pair of strikeouts. Santana hit CJ Abrams with a pitch with one out in the ninth, but then got a pair of flyouts from Nasim Nunez and Drew MIllas to end the game. Santana appears to be holding off Soto for the closer's role at the moment as the righthander has allowed just one run on two hits in nine innings of work. He has walked four and struck out six and is 2-for-3 in save opportunities this year.

Dennis Santana allowed a run on one hit and two walks in the bottom of the ninth for his first blown save of the season on Saturday. The Pirates won the game anyway, 4-3, in 11 innings.

Fantasy Impact

Santana ran into some control issues as he issues a one-out walk to Dansby Swanson and a two-out walk to Carson Kelly before Alex Bregman tied the game with an RBI single. The righthander is now 1-for-2 in save opportunities, but still has a sparkling 1.13 ERA and a 0.75 WHIP through eight innings. However, the blown save on Saturday further clouds the closer situation in Pittsburgh as Santana is neck-and-neck with Gregory Soto for the gig.

Dennis Santana pitched a perfect ninth inning for his first save of the season on Friday as the Pirates blanked the Cubs, 2-0.

Fantasy Impact

Santana struck out Dansby Swanson, retired Nico Hoerner on a popup, and then struck out Michael Busch to collect his first save of the year. Gregory Soto pitched the eighth inning and worked around a pair of walks to get the ball to Santana in the ninth. Pirates manager Don Kelly seems to be going with a platoon at closer for the time being with both Soto and Santana in the mix for saves. Friday was Santana's day as the righthander has now allowed only one hit and two walks in seven scoreless innings.

Dennis Santana pitched a perfect top of the ninth - with one strikeout - preserving a 2-2 tie. The Pirates went on to walk-off the Orioles with a run in the bottom half to give Santana his second victory of the year.

Fantasy Impact

Santana (2-0) has been sensational to begin the 2026 season as he has allowed just one hit and two walks, while striking out four, in six scoreless innings. The righthander has pitched in six of Pittsburgh's first eight games of the year. Despite the sparkling numbers to begin the year, Santana appears to have been supplanted by Gregory Soto as the team's top choice at closer. Soto has allowed one run on two hits in 5.1 innings with an 11:2 K:BB ratio. It's still a situation to monitor closely as it looks like the Pirates are going to be a much improved team in 2026.