Joaquin Benoit, Relief Pitcher

Date of Birth: 7/26/1977
Birthplace: Santiago, Dominican Republic

Joaquin Benoit, relief pitcher, first signed with the Texas Rangers in 1996. He was a starting pitcher in the Rangers' minor league system from 1997 through 2001, joining the Rangers for just one game in 2001.

Benoit pitched with the Rangers from 2002 through 2005, both as a starting pitcher and as a relief pitcher. He transitioned completely to the role of a reliever in 2007. He had career highs in innings pitched (105.0) and wins (8 to 5 losses) in 2003. The following season, he had a career high 95 strikeouts to 31 walks in 15 games as a starter and 13 games as a reliever. He had high ERAs in both of those seasons, finishing with a 5.49 ERA in 2003 and a 5.68 ERA in 2004.

In 2005, Benoit pitched primarily as a relief pitcher and he finished with a 3.72 ERA in 87.0 innings in 32 games. As a reliever in 2006, he had a 4.86 ERA in 79.2 innings in 56 games.

Benoit had rotator cuff surgery in January, 2009, and he missed the entire 2009 season. He became a free agent after the season ended.

Benoit signed a minor league contract with the Tampa Bay Rays on March 4, 2010. He finished the 2010 season with a career low ERA of 1.34 in 60.1 innings in 63 games with the Rays.

Benoit became a free agent on November 7, 2010, and twelve days later, he signed with the Detroit Tigers. He spent three seasons with the Tigers. In 2011, he finished with a 2.95 ERA in 66 games. The following year, he pitched in a career high 73 games and he had a 3.68 ERA. He was a closer for part of the 2013 season and he finished with 24 saves and a 2.01 ERA in 66 games.

Benoit signed with the San Diego Padres on December 28, 2013. He had a 1.49 ERA and 11 saves in 53 games in 2014 and a 2.34 ERA in 67 games in 2015.

The Padres traded Benoit to the Seattle Mariners on November 12, 2015. He stayed with the Mariners until July 26, 2016, when he was traded to the Toronto Blue Jays. He finished the 2016 season with 3 wins and 1 loss, 1 save, 52 strikeouts to 24 walks, and a 2.81 ERA in 26 games with the Mariners and 25 games with the Blue Jays.

Benoit became a free agent on November 3, 2016. He signed with the Philadelphia Phillies on December 6th.

The Phillies traded Benoit to the Pittsburgh Pirates on July 31, 2017. He finished the 2017 season with 1 win and 6 losses, 2 saves, 46 strikeouts to 22 walks, and a 4.65 ERA in 44 games with the Phillies and 8 games with the Pirates.

Benoit elected free agency on November 6, 2017. He signed with the Washington Nationals on February 21, 2018. He spent the 2018 season on the DL.

Benoit became a free agent on October 29, 2018. He hasn't played professional baseball since 2017.

Career pitching statistics for Benoit through 2017 include:

• 764 games played
• 1,068.2 innings pitched
• 58-49 win-loss record
• 53 saves
• 1,058 strikeouts to 437 walks
• 3.83 ERA

Sources for Information
Wikipedia - Joaquin Benoit
ESPN - Joaquin Benoit