Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Sergio Santos takes a breather outside the clubhouse in Dunedin, Fla. on Tuesday February 21, 2012. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank GunnThe Canadian Press
For Sergio Santos, his options were clear.
It was either take the big step to a pitcher from a position player and try to reinvent himself at 25, or continue to flounder in the minor leagues.
Being a practical sort, Santos chose to learn the art of pitching – and his Major League Baseball career has been on the fast track ever since.
"And as soon as I started pitching, I kind of threw everything out the window and said, 'Alright, this is what I'm doing, this is what I'm committing myself to,' " the 28-year-old former infielder said Tuesday.
It was, obviously, the right move.
After kicking around with four organizations after getting drafted in the first round (27th overall) in 2002, Santos is now the new closer for the Toronto Blue Jays and rated as one of the best in the game.
The Blue Jays were one of the teams who previously gave up on Santos, who was buried in their minor-league system from 2006-08.
It was prior to the 2009 season when it was strongly suggested to Santos that his above-average arm might make him more suited to pitching. He agreed and adapted incredibly fast, pitching at four minor-league levels for the Chicago White Sox that season.
He made the White Sox roster out of spring training in 2010, and posted a 2.96 earned-run average in 56 appearances as a rookie. But it was in 2011 that his promise finally proved itself, tallying 92 strikeouts and a .181 opponents' batting average to go with 30 saves.
Looking to beef up their bullpen, the Blue Jays obtained Santos (and $7.5-million owed to him over three years) in the offseason for promising minor-league pitcher Nestor Molina.
Santos said developing a solid off-speed pitch was the most difficult part of his transition.
"Just be to get off-speed pitches over consistent enough for hitters to kind of bite at," he said. "Keeping them honest with a 96- or 97-mile-an-hour fastball, they have to think about that. So when you can get a slider over for a strike or a changeup, or just put another pitch in their mind, it makes it so much easier."