Nelson Santander

Nelson Santander Olajo

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 2", Weight 180 lb.

• Born November 2, 1982 in Caracas Venezuela

Nelson Santander pitched four years in the minor leagues. In 2007, he moved to Holland and started game one of the 2007 Holland Series.

Santander signed with the Philadelphia Phillies in 2001. He pitched in the Venezuelan Summer League that year, going 1-1 with a 5.04 ERA for Mariara. Returning to the club in 2002, he was 1-0 with a 3.31 ERA. He split 2003 between Mariara (2-1, 2.65) and the GCL Phillies (1-0, 6.00). In 2004, he was in A ball with the Batavia Muckdogs, going 3-1 with 2 saves and a 5.63 ERA in 17 relief stints.

Santander moved to the Spanish league in 2005 and the independent Venezuelan League in 2006. In 2007, he signed with the Konica Minolta Pioniers. He was 5-4 with a 2.25 ERA but allowed only 33 hits in 56 innings. His .181 opponent average was second in the league to Duko Jansen and he tied Ryan Murphy for the league lead with two shutouts. As the team made it to the 2007 Holland Series, Santander got the nod in game one, but allowed three runs in two innings (thanks in part to an error by SS Mike Duursma) and was yanked. He took the loss. The next game, Nelson relieved Dave Draijer in the 13th inning with two on. He made an ill-fated pick-off attempt of the runner on second, throwing the ball into center field. He then gave up a sacrifice fly to Danny Rombley, costing the Pioniers the game. Draijer took the loss. In game three of the Series, he pitched scoreless ball over the final two innings.

Santander left the Pioniers midway through the 2008 season due to family problems. He was replaced by another Venezuelan hurler, Alberto Mieres.

Sources: Honkbalsite.com, Marco Stoovelaar's Dutch Baseball site, Pat Doyle's Professional Baseball Player Database, Dutch baseball stats

Related Sites

SABR Minor League Database