Gianfranco Wawoe

Gianfranco Altobelli Romano Wawoe

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 11", Weight 170 lb.

• Born July 25, 1994 in Willemstad Curacao

BR register page

Biographical Information

Gianfranco Wawoe peaked at AAA and has been on the Dutch national team.

Wawoe was signed by Seattle Mariners scouts Karel Williams and Emilio Carrasquel in 2011. He hit .179/.360/.205 for the VSL Mariners that summer, fielding .926 at SS. His fielding fell to .912 for the same team in '12 but his offense picked up (.253/.340/.319). In 2013, he hit .328/.415/.512 for the VSL Mariners with 63 runs in 68 games, going 21-for-28 in steal attempts. He was 5th in the Venezuelan Summer League in average, 2nd in OBP (.033 behind Yordyn Calderon), was 2nd in runs (5 behind Calderon), tied Ricardo Marcano for 3rd with 19 doubles and was 3rd with 21 steals.

Coming stateside in 2014, the teenager batted .275/.315/.360 for the Pulaski Mariners, playing both 2B and SS. He had a 15-game hitting streak in 2015, second-longest that year in the Midwest League. He hit .263/.325/.381 as a utility man for the Clinton Lumber Kings and went 4 for 12 with two doubles for the Jackson Generals. He was on the Dutch team in the 2015 Premier 12, but got into only one game as Calten Daal dazzled at short. Replacing Daal in a 16-1 win over Italy, he grounded out against both Yomel Rivera and Ludovico Coveri.

In 2016, he hit .288/.343/.391 for the Bakersfield Blaze, fielding .950 at 2B and again having one of the league's longest hitting streaks. He was 6th in the M's chain with 72 runs, between Tim Lopes and Jay Baum. He split '17 between the Modesto Nuts (.270/.316/.364, 6 3B, 15 SB), Arkansas Travelers (.241/.262/.328 in 14 G) and Tacoma Rainiers (0 for 6), with 6 triples, 69 RBI and 17 steals in 25 tries overall. He was 8th in Seattle's system in swipes, tied for 4th in triples and was 3rd in RBI (behind Daniel Vogelbach and Kyle Waldrop).

Wawoe did not play in 2018 and thought about quitting baseball. He moved on to the independent Southern Illinois Miners for 2019 and rebounded at .306/.377/.439. He was second in the Frontier League in average, .009 behind Quincy Nieporte. He was 1 for 6 for the Netherlands in the 2019 Premier 12, with his hit coming off Francisco Ríos.