White Sox starting pitcher Hector Santiago will join the rotation Friday in place of the injured Gavin Floyd, and he will bring a diverse arsenal to the mound that could cause his own catchers as many problems as opposing batters.
In a recent relief outing, the difficulty of catching Santiago was put on display, when he and catcher Hector Gimenez struggled to get on the same page about what pitch he wanted.
"He said, 'What did you want to throw right there?' I wanted to throw a changeup. He said, 'You got so many pitches. I didn't think of the changeup,'" Santiago told the Chicago Sun Times, about a time when Santiago went through his signals twice on one pitch. "It's kind of funny he actually forgot about it. But [Tyler Flowers] gave me something the other day and I was like, 'I don't know what that is.' So it's both sides."
Santiago has six pitches he can throw, including three different fastballs, a slider, a changeup and a screwball. He has yet to start this season, but posted a 1.86 ERA in four starts a year ago. He is scheduled to start Friday against the Royals.