Deyvison De Los Santos' Rampage Through the Texas League Continues

The slugging first baseman continues to rake for the D-backs AA affiliate Amarillo Sod Poodles

Deyvison De Los Santos Dbacks Fall League Prospect / Alex Gould/The Republic / USA TODAY

Update: De Los Santos has also just been named the Texas League Player of the Month for April by slashing .376/.430/.682 and hitting seven home runs.

Deyvison De Los Santos had another big night in the Amarillo Sod Poodles 4-0 victory over the Midland Rock Hounds. Coming off a Texas League player of the week award for April 23-28, De Los Santos has stayed hot this week.

Wednesday night he went two for four with a homer. Thursday night he went three for four, including his 9th homer of the year, a solo shot in the 3rd inning. It was also his 30th in a Sod Poodles uniform and his average now stands at an incredible .398 with a 1.188 OPS.

Let us all welcome the 3rd member of Amarillo's 3⃣0⃣ home run club!

Deyvison De Los Santos, everybody. pic.twitter.com/es8r4ZIZzw

— Amarillo Sod Poodles (@sodpoodles) May 3, 2024

De Los Santos was taken by the Cleveland Guardians in the Rule 5 draft during the MLB Winter Meetings last December but failed to make the Guardians roster and was returned to the Diamondbacks towards the end of spring training. General Manager Mike Hazen foreshadowed that possibility when he spoke about De Los Santos immediately after the draft, stating that was the more likely outcome.

With Christian Walker set to hit free agency after the 2024 season, and seemingly eager to test those waters, it's important that the D-backs develop a power threat at first base. The lack of organizational depth at the position was laid bare during a spring training scare in which Walker was hit on the hand by a pitch.

De Los Santos, who doesn't turn 21 until June 21st, still needs further development. His walk percentage is 7.2% and his strikeout rate is 24.7% . Both of those numbers represent improvements from the previous season, but plate discipline is still an area of challenge for the young slugger.

Another area that still needs work is defense. Shifted from third to first base this year, he's made four errors in 20 games. If De Los Santos continues to hit at this level while working on the refinements to his game, he'll be promoted to Triple-A Reno sooner rather than later. A September Major League call up remains a possibility.

Teammate and starting pitcher Yilber Diaz was spectacular in the Sod Poodles victory as well. He threw seven shutout innings, allowing just two hits, struck out a season high 11 and didn't walk a batter. Diaz came into the game with an unsightly 5.50 ERA and a 1.722 WHIP. He lowered those marks to 3.96 and 1.32 respectively with the dominating performance.

Catcher J.J. D'orazio had three hits, including his second homer of the year. Caleb Roberts had two hits and two RBI, accounting for the rest of the Sod Poodles offense on the night.