Santiago allowed one hit and one walk over two scoreless relief innings Tuesday in a 10-2 loss to the Athletics.
Santiago was needed early to stanch the bleeding of yet another poor start by Miguel Gonzalez (eight runs, three innings). Filling in for a failed starter has essentially been his role thus far, having pitched at least two innings in four relief appearances. Santiago made a run at the No. 5 starter job during spring training before losing out to rookie Carson Fulmer, but it looks like there's another spot in the rotation he could take. Gonzalez is 0-3 with a 12.41 ERA following Tuesday's loss. It's too early for the White Sox to promote Michael Kopech, so Santiago, an in-house option with major-league experience as a starter, appears to be a logical choice should manager Rick Renteria make a change in the rotation.