SF Giants trade RHP Gregory Santos to White Sox for RHP Kade McClure

The SF Giants traded hard-throwing right-handed pitcher Gregory Santos to the Chicago White Sox earlier this week for relief-pitching prospect Kade McClure.

The SF Giants traded right-handed pitching prospect Gregory Santos to the Chicago White Sox for another right-handed relief pitching prospect, Kade McClure. While Santos is younger than McClure and likely has more upside, he was recently designated for assignment by the Giants and likely would have been claimed off waivers by another team. McClure does not need to be added to the 40-man roster

New SF Giants pitching prospect Kade McClure during his college career at Louisville. (2017) / Bruce Thorson-USA TODAY Sports

Santos was acquired by the Giants in a trade with the Boston Red Sox back at the 2017 MLB trade deadline as part of the package for Eduardo Núñez. Originally a starting pitching prospect, Santos was moved to the bullpen by the Giants in an attempt to expedite his development.

Over the past two seasons, Santos has a 4.99 ERA across 48.2 innings pitched (47 appearances) with 49 strikeouts and 29 walks at Triple-A. He's also made five big-league appearances with the Giants, recording five strikeouts and five walks in five appearances with an 11.12 ERA. Despite his mediocre numbers, he is still just 23 and has a fastball that has reached 100 mph alongside a promising slider. While his fastball plays below its velocity, he is still an intriguing prospect.

McClure was the White Sox sixth-round pick back in 2017 out of Louisville. He missed most of his first full minor-league season with a major knee injury but soon moved through the lower minor leagues as a starter. In his first full season at Triple-A in 2022, McClure played a swingman role, recording a 4.97 ERA in 87 innings pitched with 96 strikeouts and 28 walks.

McClure primarily relies on a four-seam fastball that averaged just under 94 mph last season. With that said, his slider and curveball were easily his most effective pitches last season, suggesting he could take a step forward if he relies more heavily on his offspeed pitches.

McClure's fastball induced whiffs on just over 23.5% of swings but allowed a .355 batting average and .645 slugging percentage when opposing hitters. His slider, on the other hand, racked up a 38.8% whiff rate while surrendering a .281 average and .453 slugging. McClure's only generated whiffs on 21.6% of opposing swings, but only allowed two hits in 16 at-bats and did not surrender an extra-base hit.

Despite those numbers, McClure threw his four-seam fastball nearly 52% of the time last season, significantly more than his slider (28.6%) and curveball (12.1%). Given the Giants previous tendencies, McClure will likely rely far more heavily on his slider and curveball next season.

It will be interesting to see whether the Giants move McClure into a more traditional one-inning relief role, or plan to keep utilizing him as a long reliever/swingman. Either way, Kade McClure will help the SF Giants replenish their upper minors pitching depth after trading Gregory Santos to the White Sox.