Another day, another move. It wouldn’t be a normal week if the Giants didn’t give a chance to a prospect eschewed by another organization.
On Wednesday, it was former St. Louis Cardinals reliever Angel Rondón.
Rondón was signed for $25,000 by the Cardinals in 2016. He’s only spent seven combined innings in the majors over the past two seasons, but has done nothing to get sent down. He has not allowed a run in those seven innings, while allowing two hits, four walks and striking out five.
Per MLB.com’s scouting report:
“The 6-foot-1 right-hander averaged 93.1 mph on his heater in those brief MLB looks, and that’s around where his fastball was in the Minors as well. He can touch the mid-90s when needed, and the fastball plays up because of some natural deception and late movement. Rondón pitches a bit backward with much better splits against lefties than righties (.223 average-against vs. .329, respectively, at Triple-A) in part because of a low-80s fading changeup. His slider and curveball can flash average with the former looking slightly better than the latter at this stage, but both have suboptimal spin rates and can hang a bit too much, leading to the punishment from fellow righties.”
Will Rondón be another one of the Giants’ diamonds in the rough? Time will tell.