Cleveland, Ohio, (92.3 The Fan) – Don’t look now, but the Indians have a rising star in their minor league system.
Reliever James Karinchak hasn’t allowed a run in 12 innings this season. The 23-year-old made his first appearance for Triple-A Columbus on May 3 after starting the season in Akron. He struck out the side.
Welcome to Triple-A, James Karinchak!!!The new Clippers fireballer just struck out the side in his @TripleABaseball debut! ------#ThisShipRocks pic.twitter.com/Le5Qp1H1cR
— Columbus Clippers (@CLBClippers) May 4, 2019Karinchak was just as good in his second appearance, striking out the side again for Columbus. The right-hander has six strikeouts in two innings of work for the Clippers.
“Looks like a video game,” manager Terry Francona said prior to Sunday’s game. “It’s going to be interesting because of his stuff. He’s got plenty of fastball; I mean plenty – like 97-98 and a breaking ball that’s like a curve ball, slider – a hard curve ball. He’s got two pitches that are just like wipeout pitches.”
The Indians drafted Karinchak in the ninth round of the 2017 Major League Baseball Draft. He’s averaging 2.5 strikeouts per inning and has 30 on the season.
Karinchak is 6-foot-3, 230 pounds and could make it to the big leagues sooner than expected if he continues to dominate in Columbus. He was the 30th ranked prospect in the Indians organization going into the season according to MLB Pipeline.
Karinchak attended Bryant University in Rhode Island. He set records for wins (12), strikeouts (112) and was second in NCAA Division I strikeout rate (13.7) during his collegiate career.
The Indians' bullpen could use a player like Karinchak. Their relievers have unique styles, but adding an arm who can throw as hard as Karinchak and specializes in strikeouts could be huge for this team.
“Those numbers were stupid at Double-A,” Francona said. “I saw his first inning at Triple-A where he walked one and struck out three. He’s obviously an interesting kid. We’ll see how he does.”
