Cole Waites #79

Born in Lawrenceville, Ga...Cole and his wife, Kortnie, were married this past offseason. The two make their offseason home in Georgia...Attended Archer (Ga.) High School, where he had a 1.85 ERA as a junior...Was a physical education major at West Alabama. Worked primarily as a starter and led the Gulf South Conference as a junior with 118 strikeouts.

2024

Missed the entire 2024 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery in September 2023...The Tommy John surgery was the second of Waites' career (also 2019).

2023

Was SF’s No. 21 prospect entering the season according to MLB.com, but only appeared in three games for SF...He spent a majority of his year when healthy at Triple-A...Underwent Tommy John surgery in September, performed by Dr. Keith Meister...Was non-tendered on Nov. 17 but re-signed with SF on a Minor League deal.

2022

Averaged 16.4 strikeouts per nine innings across 38 minor league appearances in 2022, the third-highest figure across all minor league levels (min. 40ip)…Was part of a combined no-hitter for High-A Eugene along with LHP Nick Swiney and RHP Nick Avila on May 1, 2022, in Eugene's 3-0 shutout over Tri-CIty (Angels Affiliate)…Finished the 2022 season ranked as SF's #27 prospect according to MLB.com...Began his season at High-A Eugene and pitched at Double-A Richmond and Triple-A Sacramento before having his contract selected by San Francisco...Made his Major League debut on Sept. 13 vs. Atlanta and threw a scoreless inning, getting Dansby Swanson, Austin Riley and Matt Olson out...Waites was facing the team he grew up rooting for in his MLB debut as he grew up in Lawrenceville, Ga., just outside of Atlanta...Pitched 5.2 innings over seven MLB appearances with four strikeouts and four walks...Posted a 3.55 ERA (5er,12.2ip) with 27 strikeouts and four walks at Eugene...In 18 appearances at Richmond, he had a 1.71 ERA (4er, 21.0ip) with 38 strikeouts and 15 walks...Threw 8.0 scoreless innings with 11 strikeouts in seven games at Triple-A Sacramento...Overall in the minors he went 4-3 with a 1.94 ERA (9er, 41.2 ip) with 76 strikeouts and 22 walks...held opponents to a .170 average with a 16.4 K/9 ratio and went 6-for-9 in save opportunities.

2021

In 13 appearances between Rookie-ACL Giants Orange and Low-A San Jose in 2021, Waites struck out 66% of the hitters he faced (31 strikeouts, 47 batters faced)...Played for the Scottsdale Scorpions in the Arizona Fall League following the 2021 season, where he appeared strictly out of the bullpen and collected a save in 10 outings.

2020

Spent the canceled minor-league season in 2020 at Full Count Baseball, a facility in his home state of Georgia. He returned from the pandemic with a fastball that sat in the upper-90s and reached 100 mph.