Waldis Joaquín

Waldis Joaquín de la Cruz (born December 25, 1986) is a Dominican professional baseball pitcher who is currently a free agent.

Baseball career

On October 31, 2003, the San Francisco Giants signed Joaquín as an amateur free agent.^[1] His first professional experience came with the Dominican Summer League Giants in 2004; in 14 games (13 starts), he had six wins and a 1.61 earned run average (ERA).^[2] He pitched for the Arizona League Giants in 2005, posting a 1–1 record with a 3.64 ERA, 37 strikeouts, and 10 walks in  29 ²⁄₃ innings.^[3] He did not play in 2006 due to surgery on his right elbow,^[2] but he returned in 2007, for the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes of the Single-A (short season) Northwest League, with whom he went 3–0 with a 2.84 ERA, 30 strikeouts, and 16 walks in 38 innings.^[3]

In 2008, Joaquín played for the Single-A Augusta GreenJackets of the South Atlantic League and the Single-A advanced San Jose Giants of the California League. He was had a combined 1–3 with a 4.42 ERA in  71 ¹⁄₃ innings over 36 games (seven starts).^[3]

Joaquin began 2009 with the Double-A Connecticut Defenders of the Eastern League. He had a 4–5 record, a 2.67 ERA, 40 strikeouts, and 28 walks in 54 innings pitched.^[3] On August 1, Joaquin was called up to the Giants' bullpen; he replaced Ryan Sadowski on the roster.^[4] He made his Major League debut on August 4, giving up one run on two hits in pitching the ninth inning in an 8–1 win over the Houston Astros. He was optioned to the minors the next day to make room for Joe Martinez on the roster.^[5] Joaquin spent the rest of the minor league season with the Triple-A Fresno Grizzlies of the Pacific Coast League; in eight games, he had a 1–0 record, an 0.00 ERA, 16 strikeouts, and two walks in 10 innings pitched.^[2][3] He was called up again on September 1 when rosters expanded, and he made nine more appearances for the Giants that year.^[6] In 10 games with the Giants, Joaquin had no record, a 4.22 ERA, 12 strikeouts, and seven walks in  10 ²⁄₃ innings pitched.^[2]

Joaquin made the Giants' Opening Day roster in 2010. He threw a scoreless  ²⁄₃ of an inning in his first outing, but he gave up runs in each of his next three outings.^[7] At the beginning of May, he was sent down to Fresno when Aaron Rowand came off the disabled list.^[8] He was called up again on May 27 following an injury to Jeremy Affeldt, but he was sent down days later without making an appearance.^[2][9] In four games with the Giants, Joaquin had no record, a 9.64 ERA, two strikeouts, and seven walks in  4 ²⁄₃ innings pitched. He was left off the postseason roster as the Giants won the 2010 World Series against the Texas Rangers.^[2]

After the 2010 season, the San Francisco Giants removed Joaquin from their 40-Man Roster and placed him on release waivers. On November 22, 2010, Joaquin was claimed off of waivers by the Chicago White Sox. Joaquin refused the waiver claim and became a free agent. He was re-signed by the Giants in December 2010.^[10]

In the 2011 season, Joaquin appeared in 5 major league games for the Giants, posting a 1-0 record and a 4.26 ERA in 6.1 innings, with 3 strikeouts and 3 walks.

He became a free agent on November 30, 2011, and subsequently signed a minor league contract with the Nationals on December 14.

On June 10, 2016, Joaquin signed with the Saraperos de Saltillo of the Mexican Baseball League. He was released on June 27, 2016.

On July 1, 2016, Joaquin signed with the Vaqueros Laguna of the Mexican Baseball League. He was released on July 15, 2016.

References

External links

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)