Sunday, January 17, 2010

Giants Top 50 Prospects #14: Waldis Joaquin

#14 Waldis Joaquin. RHP. BD: 12-25-1986. 6'2", 190 lbs.

2009 Stats: AA- 4-5, 2.67, 54 IP, 28 BB, 40 K's. AAA- 1-0, 0.00, 10 IP, 2 BB, 16 K's. MLB- 0-0, 4.22, 10.2 IP, 7 BB, 12 K's. Dominican Winter League- 1-0, 2.35, 15.1 IP, 3 BB, 15 K's.

Waldis Joaquin is the right-handed bookend to Dan Runzler, a fireballer with great K rates and marginal walk rates. Joaquin first came to attention in 2005 when as an 18 year old, he made BA's AZL top 20 list along with Sharon Martis. Their scouting report had him hitting 98 MPH 8 times in one 3-inning stint near the end of the season. He missed the entire 2006 season with TJ surgery, then went 3-0 with a 2.84 ERA in 38 IP for Salem-Keizer in 2007. 2008 was a bit of a struggle in Augusta and San Jose with ERA's >4, good K rates, but poor walk rates. I saw him pitch in Lake Elsinore near the end of the 2008 season and his fastball was sitting at 94 MPH with a pronounced run that seemed to contribute to his control struggles. He also appeared to have a hard slider and a change-up to my eye. The Giants moved him up to AA to start last season where he had a better ERA, but not as impressive secondary stats. The Giants must have really liked his stuff, because he still got a late season promo to Fresno where he was absolutely lights out. He showed flashes of brilliance in 10 MLB appearances. I caught a couple on TV where he was hitting 98-100 MPH with sink and run on his fastball. Again, he was successful in missing bats, but walked too many. The secondary stats were much better in winter ball. Based on the player movement this winter, it would seem that the Giants are planning on him starting 2010 in the MLB bullpen, where if he can harness that talent he should be a dominant setup man in short order. He is a somewhat rare combination of high velocity, high K, groundball pitcher that should play very well in the majors. Felix Hernandez is the comp. for that combo.

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