Baseball in Fort Wayne

One of my favorite former Fort Wayne Wizards players is one who wasn’t there very long. I never saw him pitch in person, and really have never seen him on TV either. But I love a good story, and Joakim Soria’s story is a good one.

Soria was signed by the Dodgers as a non-drafted free agent in 2001 and was released in 2004.

While in the Mexican League in 2005, Soria went 5-0 in 30 appearances. In 2006, with the Diablos Rojos del Mexico of the Mexican League, he tallied 15 saves and an ERA of 3.89 over 39 appearances. In 37 innings, Soria surrendered 37 hits, 11 walks and struck out 30.

He joined the Fort Wayne Wizards in mid-August of 2006 after being signed as a free agent by the Padres. While there, Soria pitched 11.2 innings, garnering a 2.31 ERA in seven games. He allowed five hits and three runs while striking out 11.

During that offseason, the Padres left him unprotected for the Rule 5 Draft, and lost him to Kansas City. Two days later, he pitched a perfect game in the Mexican Pacific League.

Being a Rule 5 draftee, I had hoped the Royals wouldn’t keep him on the roster all season and he’d be returned to the Padres. Instead, he played the part of closer and set-up man very capably. In 2007, Soria posted a 2.48 ERA with 17 saves and 75 K’s over 69 innings.

There’s a great article by Jesse Sanchez over at MLB.com that talks about Soria’s plans and direction for his sophomore season with the Royals.

“I think he’s smart enough to realize that as we go through Spring Training, he’s going to need to know that everybody is going to be up on their reports from what happened last year and the success he had,” Royals manager Trey Hillman said. “They are going to be countering his success with trying to figure up a better plan of attack playing against him this year.”

While it was another former Wizards pitcher who took home Cy Young honors last season, Soria is certainly one of the former Wizards to watch for this year.

[tags]Joakim Soria, Rule 5 Draft Picks, Royals, Kansas City, Baseball in Fort Wayne[/tags]

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