Cole Robert Waites (born June 10, 1998) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the San Francisco Giants of Major League Baseball (MLB). He played college baseball at the University of West Alabama, and was drafted by the Giants in the 18th round of the 2019 Major League Baseball draft. He made his MLB debut in 2022.
| Cole Waites | |
|---|---|
| San Francisco Giants – No. 76 | |
| Pitcher | |
| Born: (1998-06-10) June 10, 1998 (age 24) Lawrenceville, Georgia | |
Bats: Right Throws: Right | |
| MLB debut | |
| September 13, 2022, for the San Francisco Giants | |
| MLB statistics (through 2022 season) | |
| Win–loss record | 0–0 |
| Earned run average | 3.18 |
| Strikeouts | 4 |
| Teams | |
| |
Waites attended Archer High School in Lawrenceville, Georgia. He played college baseball, primarily as a starter, at the University of West Alabama, where his 118 strikeouts as a junior led the Gulf South Conference.[1][2] He was drafted by the San Francisco Giants in the 18th round of the 2019 Major League Baseball draft.[3]
Waites made his professional debut with the Arizona League Giants. He did not play for a team in 2020 due to the Minor League Baseball season being cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Waites returned in 2021 after missing most of the season recovering from knee surgery for torn meniscus to pitch for the Arizona Complex League Giants and San Jose Giants.[1][4] In 2021 as a reliever he was a combined 2-0 with two saves and an 0.68 ERA, as in 13.1 innings he gave up one hit and struck out 31 batters.[5] After the season, he pitched in the Arizona Fall League.[6][7]
Waites started 2022 with the Eugene Emeralds. He was then promoted to the Richmond Flying Squirrels and Sacramento River Cats, pitching out of the bullpen.[5]
On September 12, 2022, the Giants selected Waites' contract and promoted him to the major leagues.[8] At the time of his call-up, between the three minor league teams in 2022 he was 4-3 with a 1.99 ERA as in 40.2 innings he gave up 25 hits and had 75 strikeouts.[5] In his minor league career to that point, in 71.1 innings he had a 45.1% strikeout rate (averaging 16.9 strikeouts per 9 innings) and 2.78 ERA, with a 13.8% walk rate.[9]
Waites relies primarily on a mid-90s fastball that has reached 100 mph, and an above-average slider.[10]