Former San Francisco Giants Pitcher Back In Majors After Six-Year Break

The San Francisco Giants haven’t seen Albert Suárez in the Majors since they lost him in the Rule 5 Draft in late 2017. On Wednesday, that changed.

The Baltimore Orioles called up Suárez from Triple-A Norfolk for Wednesday’s game and designated catcher David Bañuelos for assignment, per MASN Sports.

The move was in response to the Orioles putting Tyler Wells on the 15-day injured list with an elbow injury. Wells was supposed to start on Wednesday.

Suárez, a native of Venezuela, entered professional baseball in 2006 when he was signed as an international free-agent by the Tampa Bay Rays. He played for four different organizations, but he only reached the Majors with the Giants, who acquired him in 2015 on a minor-league deal.

The Giants called up the right-hander in 2016 and made him a part-time starter, as he started 12 games and made 22 appearances overall, going 3-5 with 4.29 ERA. He struck out 54 and walked 26 in 84 innings.

He followed that in 2017 with an 0-3 record and a 5.12 ERA with 34 strikeouts in 18 appearances.

San Francisco non-tendered him after the season and left him unprotected in the Rule 5 Draft, where they lost him to the Diamondbacks.

Things didn’t work out with the D-backs either, and the now 34-year-old pitcher found a home in Japan with Nippon Professional Baseball’s Tokyo Yakult Swallows (2019-21) and the Korean Baseball Organization’s Samsung Lions (2022-23). He posted a respectable ERA of around 3.00 with both teams.

He returned to the states this spring on a non-roster invitation from the Orioles and was assigned to Norfolk to start the season.