Dennis Santana served as most reliable reliever in a Pirates bullpen of constant flux

There is a widespread belief in baseball that every reliever wants to be the closer, and every closer wants to make a memorable entrance in the ninth inning and record the final three outs of the game.

Dennis Santana is no different.

“I always dreamed about that,” Santana said in early September, recalling conversations with Pittsburgh Pirates bullpen coach Miguel Perez. “I told Miggy, ‘One day they’re going to turn out the lights for me.’ So, when we come back after the trade deadline, and they did that the first day, I was like, ‘This is awesome. I love it.’”

Whether he was setting up David Bednar or closing out one of his 16 saves this season, Santana served as the most reliable reliever in the Pirates bullpen — in more ways than one.

Of the eight relievers who made their Opening Day roster, Santana and Justin Lawrence were the only ones still on the active roster when the season ended. And Lawrence only pitched in April and September, missing the majority of the season with right elbow inflammation.

The Pirates traded Bednar, a two-time All-Star who recorded 101 saves in five seasons, to the New York Yankees at the trade deadline. They also dealt lefty Caleb Ferguson to Seattle, designated lefties Ryan Borucki, Tim Mayza and Joey Wentz for assignment and optioned sinkerballer Colin Holderman to Triple-A Indianapolis in mid-September.

Santana brought stability to a bullpen that was in flux all season, especially when Bednar wasn’t available. The Pirates ’pen had a 3.83 ERA, 1.25 WHIP and .237 batting average against and allowed the fifth-fewest home runs and 10th-fewest walks in the majors.

In April, when the Pirates demoted Bednar to the minors, Santana posted a 1.64 ERA with three saves and three holds in 11 innings over as many appearances. When Bednar regained his closer role, Santana had a 1.32 ERA with 31 strikeouts against seven walks and recorded three saves and nine holds in 32 appearances from May through July.

With Bednar gone, Santana returned to closing games and had 10 saves over the final two months — although his ERA inflated to 3.75 over his final 24 appearances. At a salary of $1.4 million — he enters his second year of arbitration this offseason — Santana proved to be one of the Pirates’ best bargains, whether as the setup man or closer.

“Man, I can’t say enough about him and the attitude he brings every day,” Pirates manager Don Kelly said of Santana. “He’s a leader on this team, and the way that he goes about it, he is always prepared, always ready. There were times earlier this year when he was in more of the setup role. We were bouncing back and forth with him and Bednar and David kind of established himself in the ninth inning again. And then Santana, there were multiple times, I think once we brought him in the fifth inning. … He’s a competitor. He is always ready to take the ball and go compete. I can’t say enough great things about him.”

Despite the turnover, the Pirates found some other gems in the ’pen. Most notable was Isaac Mattson, a 30-year-old rookie right-hander who developed into a high-leverage reliever.

Mattson recorded 45 strikeouts in 44 appearances, throwing an electric four-seam fastball on 78.5% of his pitches. Opponents batted .191 against his heater, which drew a 23.1% whiff rate and accounted for 35 of his strikeouts.

“With the heater, I feel like I’ve got four different pitches,” Mattson said. “You’ve got up, down, in, out, so being able to use that to good spots, depending on who’s up at the plate. Then being able to sequence it well with the other pitches when I need to and let things work out the way they do. … Knowing that it’s a good weapon for me and hearing those things continues to build confidence in the usage.”

The Pirates invested $17 million into their bullpen, with Bednar the highest-paid at $5.9 million, followed by free agents Ferguson ($3 million) and Mayza ($1.55 million). They didn’t get as much as hoped out of Borucki ($1.15 million) or Holderman ($1.5 million) but maximized top prospects Braxton Ashcraft, Hunter Barco and Bubba Chandler by breaking them into the majors in bulk relief roles and bouncing Carmen Mlodzinski between starting and the bullpen.

The competition for spots in the starting rotation should yield some long relievers, with Ashcraft, Barco and Mlodzinski the primary candidates. The return of Dauri Moreta from Tommy John surgery and the emergence of Yohan Ramirez and Chase Shugart gave the Pirates pitchers to use in fireman roles.

After opening the season with four lefties in the bullpen, the Pirates finished it with only Barco, who pitched three innings in two appearances in late September. Aside from Barco and Evan Sisk, acquired from Kansas City in the Bailey Falter trade, the Pirates don’t have many left-handed options — and none in high-leverage situations.

But if they can get Holderman right, keep Lawrence healthy and continue to count on Mattson and Santana, the back end of the bullpen has promise. That’s one thing Santana put his signature checkmark on.