San Francisco Giants Call Up Flamethrower for MLB Debut a Decade in the Making

It’s easy to imagine the reactions of the family members and friends of San Francisco Giants pitching prospect Joel Peguero – or Peguero himself – when they saw this line on the transaction wire on Thursday.

“San Francisco Giants selected the contract of RHP Joel Peguero from Sacramento River Cats.”

The react ions. Screams of joy. Tears of joy. Undoubtedly just pure joy.

Peguero, 28, has waited a long time to feel major league joy.

It’s been exactly 10 years – since Aug. 15, 2015 – that the Tampa Bay Rays signed the Dominican Republic native. That began a decade-long odyssey that took him through the systems of the Rays, the Colorado Rockies, the Detroit Tigers, the Washington Nationals and the Giants, through cities such as Bowling Green and Durham and Harrisburg before he landed in Sacramento.

And Sacramento proved to be his launching pad to the majors. The Giants signed him to a minor league contract last November, invited him to spring training and then sent him to the Triple-A  River Cats.

“It feels amazing,” Peguero, 28, said of his call-up, according to MLB.com. “I was waiting for a long time. My dream has come true now.”

The addition of Peguero, who has a nearly 101 mph fastball in his arsenal, was one of several transactions made by the Giants on Thursday. In addition, San Francisco optioned outfielder Grant McCray and right-hander Kai-Wei Teng to Sacramento, recalled outfielder Luis Matos from Sacramento and transferred left-hander Erik Miller to the 60-day injured list due to left-elbow inflammation.