Cole Waites #75

Born in Lawrenceville, Ga., a suburb of Atlanta located 30 miles northeast of downtown...Was a Physical Education major at the University of West Alabama. Worked primarily as a starter and led the Gulf South Conference as a junior with 118 strikeouts...With his debut, Waites became the first player drafted under Senior Director of Amateur Scouting Michael Holmes and President of Baseball Operations Farhan Zaidi to reach the majors with the Giants.

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.