Towering pitcher looking to regain success with Red Sox

The Regina Red Sox are hoping Baylor Giannini can be as big a contributor on the field as he is off it.

The 6-foot-10, 250-pound pitcher comes to the Western Major Baseball League’s Red Sox from Arizona Christian University, where he played four years.

While he seems more built for football — he played on the gridiron before an injury ended that — it was baseball that helped him find his way into the college ranks.

But it didn’t start off well for Giannini, who transferred to the school from Glendale Community College.

“I was kind of a top pitcher in the state of Arizona and then when I went to my first school, I had a coach that messed me up a little bit so I really couldn’t throw a baseball anymore,” the 23-year-old product of Phoenix said outside the Red Sox clubhouse at Currie Field. “I kind of went from Cloud 9 to rock bottom with my baseball career.

Giannini said he wants to get back to where he was as a ball player and is grateful for the opportunity in Regina.

He has struggled as a pitcher in recent years, posting an 8.22 earned-run average last season after recording a 4.45 ERA in 2017. In high school, he had a low ERA of 1.08.

He certainly won’t be hard to miss on the diamond given his size.

“I was a taller kid,” Giannini said. “When I was a freshman in high school, I went from 6-foot to 6-foot-6 in my freshman year and 6-foot-10 happened in the past two years. When I was 21, I stopped growing.”

Red Sox general manager Bernie Eiswirth said he has never had to deal with a player of Giannini’s stature.

“We’ve had 6-foot-6, 6-foot-7 guys but not 6-foot-10; that’s probably the biggest we’ve had for sure,” said Eiswirth. “(Giannini) pitches like Randy Johnson or somebody like that.

“We’re hoping for a Chris Sale-like pitcher so we’re hoping he brings that kind of authority to the mound for the Regina Red Sox.”

Being so tall can have its advantages for a pitcher.

“I kind of throw from a deceptive angle too, so I kind of hide the ball so I use my long, long arms to get out there more,” said Giannini. “When I come around, my arm’s behind a left-handed batter pretty much so (the ball) is hard to see.”

He will join a revamped pitching staff that Eiswirth says has only one returning veteran.

The Red Sox are to begin their regular season Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Currie Field, where they’ll face the Yorkton Cardinals.