Sam Gaviglio

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Samuel Joseph Gaviglio

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Biographical Information[edit]

Pitcher Sam Gaviglio was selected by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 5th round of the 2011 amateur draft, out of Oregon State University. Three years earlier, when he graduated from high school, the Tampa Bay Rays had picked him in the 40th round of the 2008 draft, but he chose to attend college instead.

Gaviglio made his professional debut with the Batavia Muckdogs of the New York-Penn League in 2011, where he had no decisions and a spotless ERA in 4 innings of work. In 2012, he spent the entire season with the Quad Cities River Bandits of the Midwest League, going 9-9, 3.92. He pitched 133 innings in 23 starts, striking out 113 against only 30 walks. However, he was set back by an injury in 2013, being limited to only 9 outings, including a pair on a rehabilitation assignment to the GCL Cardinals. With the Class A Palm Beach Cardinals, he was 4-1, 2.72. In spite of the time missed, the Cardinals moved Sam to AA in 2014 and he spent the season with the Springfield (MO) Cardinals of the Texas League. He made 25 appearances, going 5-12, 4.28. He struck out 126 batters in 136 2/3 innings. On November 20th, the Cardinals traded him to the Seattle Mariners in return for IF Ty Kelly.

Sam split the 2016 season between the AA Jackson (TN) Generals and the AAA Tacoma Rainiers, going 8-7, 3.98 in 28 games. In 165 innings, he struck out 123 batters and allowed only 36 hits. He started the 2017 season back with Tacoma and was 2-3, 3.31 after 5 starts when he got the call to the Show on May 10th when Hisashi Iwakuma was placed on the disabled list. He made his debut the next day, pitching two innings of relief in a 7-2 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays. He gave up only 2 hits and struck out 4 while walking none, but one of the hits was a solo homer by Justin Smoak. His first start came on May 18th and he ended up with a no-decision in spite of tossing 5 scoreless innings against the Chicago White Sox. On May 24th, he was tagged with a first loss when he was beaten 5-1 by the Washington Nationals; four of the runs came in the 1st inning and were unearned because an error by SS Jose Segura. Three of these came on a two-out homer by Anthony Rendon. He did well after that rough first frame, giving up only one other run while completing six innings. After going 3-5, 4.62 in 12 games for the Mariners, he was placed on waivers at the end of August and was claimed by the Kansas City Royals on September 1st. He made 4 more appearances, going 1-0, for a final line of 4-5, 4.36 in 16 games (13 starts) and 49 strikeouts in 76 1/3 innings.

Gaviglio went to spring training with the Royals in 2018, but on March 21st, he was traded to the Toronto Blue Jays in return for future considerations. He was sent to the minors in order to provide potential depth for the starting rotation. That depth was quickly needed in Toronto however, as he ended up making 24 starts for the Blue Jays, logging 123 2/3 innings. The results weren't great, though, as his record was 3-10, with an ERA of 5.31; he also allowed 140 hits and 38 walks during that span but he did strike out 105 batters. The Blue Jays weren't really more loaded in terms of starting pitchers in 2019, but Gaviglio was given a different role, that of long reliever. He proved much more valuable in that thankless job, making 52 appearances, all in relief, and pitching 95 2/3 innings. His record was 4-2, and he lowered his ERA to 4.61, making a useful and reliable member of a pitching staff that was in flux all season.

Sam's first outing of 2020 was bit of a disaster, however. Coming into a game tied at 1-1 in the 8th inning against the Tampa Bay Rays, he allowed a single to Mike Zunino, walked Ji-Man Choi, then allowed a two-run triple to Brandon Lowe before balking him in. He was charged with the Jays' 4-1 loss.

Related Sites[edit]

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