Jonathan Loáisiga

Note: This page is for 2010s pitcher Jonathan Loáisiga; for his namesake who played in the minors in the 2000s, click here.

Jonathan Stanley Loáisiga

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 11", Weight 165 lb.

• Debut June 15, 2018

• Born November 2, 1994 in Managua, Nicaragua

BR page

Biographical Information

Pitcher Jonathan Loáisiga is the son of Nicaraguan national team outfielder Stanley Loáisiga and the brother of minor leaguer Mike Loáisiga.

He was signed by the San Francisco Giants in September of 2012. He had a great season with the DSL Giants in 2013, going 8-1, 2.75 in 13 starts, but then missed the next two years and was released in September 2015. The New York Yankees signed him early in 2016, and after one game with the Charleston RiverDogs on May 13th, he had to undergo Tommy John surgery and did not pitch again until the end of June, 2017. However, he had done well for the Nicaraguan national team in the 2017 World Baseball Classic Qualifiers before suffering the injury.

After those various career interruptions, Jonathan got to pitch in earnest with three teams in 2017, the GCL Yankees East, the GCL Yankees West, and the Staten Island Yankees. He went a combined 1-1, 1.38 in 11 starts, logging 32 2/3 innings. Given how little he had pitched thus far, no one expected to see him rise quickly in 2018, but he was dominant with the Tampa Tarpons at the start of the season, going 3-0, 1.35 in 4 starts, so he was promoted to the AA Trenton Thunder. In his first 6 starts there, he was 3-1, 4.32, and between the two teams, he had a combined 58 strikeouts and just 4 walks in 45 innings. That prompted the Yankees to call him up to the Show on June 12th, slotting him to make his debut in a start on June 15th, taking the place of the injured Masahiro Tanaka. The fact he was already on the 40-man roster, as opposed to other top pitching prospects in the organization, explained why he was the one picked for the assignment. In his first game against the Tampa Bay Rays, he did very well, with no runs allowed on 3 hits in 5 innings, and he received credit for a 5-0 win. On June 25th, he mystified the Philadelphia Phillies for 5 1/3 innings, allowing just a hit and 2 walks to gain credit for a 4-2 win. He was perfect through the first four innings, walked Carlos Santana to start the 5th but left him stranded, and only allowed his first hit when Jorge Alfaro led off the 6th with a single; after a walk and a ground out, he was replaced by David Robertson, who did not allow either runner to score. Overall, he was 2-0, 5.11 in 9 games for the Yanks, including 4 starts, logging 24 2/3 innings.

He was one of a number of players who received an unexpected chance to play in the majors at the start of the 2019 season because of a rash of injuries affecting the Yankees. He went 1-1, 4.50 in 4 games, including 3 starts, before being himself added to the injured list on May 13th, the cause being a strained rotator cuff. The next day, he was transferred to the 60-day list in order to make room on the Yankees' roster for newly-acquired Kendrys Morales, a clear sign that the injury was serious.

Related Sites

• Jonathan Loasisiga on mlb.com
• BR Minors page