Benoit's Solid Career Started with Savannah
With the Savannah Sand Gnats 2014 season opener quickly approaching, Sandgnats.com will be celebrating the city's rich professional baseball history by counting down the top 25 greatest to ever play in Savannah. By utilizing major league career statistics, minor league statistics and accolades, and by analyzing the general impact on the game and in the city of Savannah, Sandgnats.com has compiled a list of notable ball players that have helped shaped the story of Savannah and America's pastime.
Savannah, GA - While you were probably singing along to K-Ci and JoJo's "All My Life," for the hundredth time, Dominican pitcher Joaquín Benoit was busy honing his skills at Historic Grayson Stadium with the 1998 Savannah Sand Gnats. Although not quite a household name, Benoit has enjoyed a very effective twelve-year big league career. Benoit has found the most success as a converted reliever with the Tampa Bay Rays and then Detroit Tigers, pitching to a 2.53 ERA over the last four seasons and even earning 24 saves with the 2013 Central Divisional Champion Detroit Tigers.
The Savannah Sand Gnats took the field as an affiliate of the Texas Rangers for the first time in 1998. The team featured seven future major leaguers including Carlos Peña, Travis Hafner, and a 20-year-old non-drafted free agent- Joaquín Benoit. After cruising through 44 innings of rookie league ball without allowing a home run during his 1997 season with the GCL Rangers, Benoit was poised to break out in his first professional full season in Savannah.
His breakout, though, would have to be put on hold, as he was lost to injury within the first two weeks of the season. Benoit finally returned two months later, just in time to test his skills against a South Atlantic League that featured a young Michael Young, Jayson Werth, and Vernon Wells. Benoit finished that season in Savannah with a 3.82 ERA over 15 starts, an encouraging figure given his injury.
The Sand Gnats ended 1998 in an unspectacular fashion, finishing the year 67-75. Savannah lost the division to the Macon Braves led by future all-star second baseman Marcus Giles. Benoit missed the post-season with the Gnats, but 14 years later the he would get his chance to pitch on the game's biggest stage.
The 6'3" Santiago, Dominican Republic, native continued a steady climb through the minors, making his big-league debut with the Texas Rangers in 2001. Benoit spent the next three seasons as a starter yielding average results. In 2005, the Rangers decided to shift Benoit from starter to relief pitcher, where he would eventually flourish. Surgery on a torn rotator cuff took Benoit out of baseball for the entire 2009 season.
Benoit's breakout finally arrived in 2010 when the Tampa Bay Rays signed Benoit as a free agent and placed him in the 8th inning setup role in front of closer Rafael Soriano. The two quickly became the league's best one-two-punch. When Rays pitching coach Jim Hickey signaled for the righty, victory was practically inevitable. Benoit was so automatic that he led the league among qualified relievers with a minuscule 0.68 WHIP. Benoit wasn't just striking out batters: he was limiting walks and keeping the ball in the yard. Inherited runners weren't scoring either, as he also led all qualified relievers with a 95.1% left on base rate.
In 2011, Benoit parlayed his historic season with the Rays into another setup gig with the Detroit Tigers pitching in front of Jose Valverde. Again Benoit shined, picking up 29 holds with a 2.95 ERA. Benoit went on to pitch a solid 7.2 innings during the post-season, surrendering just one earned run -- a home run hit by Yankees center fielder Curtis Granderson in the 2011 ALDS. Benoit and Tigers could not surmount the Texas Rangers' high-powered offense and were eliminated 4-2 in the ALCS.
Although he pitched well in 2012, his home runs per nine innings more than doubled forcing his ERA to climb to 3.68. Benoit and the Tigers advanced to their second consecutive ALCS, sweeping the New York Yankees only to be then swept by the San Francisco Giants in the World Series. During the ALCS and World Series, Benoit did not allow an earned run across three appearances.
Benoit had one more role to conquer. In 2013 the Tigers had to find a solution for a struggling closer Jose Valverde. Benoit was there to pick up 24 saves for the ALCS bound Tigers, pitching to a tidy 2.01 ERA. Benoit's fantastic 2013 season may be overshadowed by one mistake pitch. During game 2 of the ALCS, Benoit gave up a game-tying grand slam to the Red Sox designated hitter David Ortiz. The Boston Police Officer seen celebrating in the bullpen as the line-drive home run went over the right field wall became an internet sensation.
Benoit's changeup has been his strike-out pitch. Sitting at around 83 mph the pitch has been highly effective in all counts. According to PITCHf/x data since 2007, his changeup has enjoyed a 40% strike-out rate since 2007. That's a higher strike-out percentage than changeup artists such as Fernando Rodney (33%), Cole Hamels (31.9%), and James Shields (34.6%). If that isn't enough to get the job done, Benoit has a respectable slider and a mid 90s fastball that can be dialed up to 97 mph when needed.
Benoit has enjoyed serious acclaim as a go-to reliever facing off against both lefties and righties regularly. The right-hander has ranked in the top 15 in WHIP (0.98) and top 10 in holds (93) over the last four seasons among qualified relievers. Sabermetricians also like Benoit, as he has collected 4.5 WAR over the last four seasons. That's more than closers like Fernando Rodney, Rafael Soriano, and Jim Johnson. The 36-year-old seems to have found his niche, earning himself a 2014 free-agent contract with the San Diego Padres. Although he's a long way from Savannah now, 1998 was his first full season in what has become a solid 16 year baseball career thus far.
Read the other entries in the Top 25 of Savannah's Greatest:
24. Dave DeBusschere - P - 1962
25. Deacon Jones - 1B - 1962