NEW YORK -- James Karinchak was not the same hurler that the Indians had been used to seeing.
The level of dominance he boasted in 2020 was briefly seen in the first two months of '21, but after the calendar flipped to June, he lost that feel. Cleveland gave him time to work through those struggles at the Major League level through the end of August, but that’s when the team knew he needed some additional attention at Triple-A Columbus.
The plan wasn’t to throw Karinchak into Minor League games and allow him to keep making adjustments in a competitive setting. Instead, the Indians wanted to take the time to get Karinchak back to the hurler they once knew by having him receive one-on-one time in bullpen sessions to figure out exactly what the issues were.
After a few weeks of undivided attention, Karinchak has now gotten into two games for Columbus, tossing two scoreless frames with one walk, one hit and three strikeouts.
“His last two outings in Columbus, his velocity, which really was never that big of a part of the issue, but his velocity has been good -- up to 96.5 [mph] average,” Indians pitching coach Carl Willis said. “The ride on his fastball has begun to improve and look more like what we saw earlier in the year.”
Velocity was a minor first step. His heater averaged 95.9 mph in the big leagues this year, though it averaged over 96 mph through the first three months of the season. It dropped to a 95.6 mph average in July and August as he was dealing with the most inconsistencies on the mound. But there were much bigger problems to solve than a slight dip in velocity, and the biggest was rediscovering the strike zone.
In his last two months before his demotion, Karinchak posted just a 41.9 in-zone percentage, as opposed to the 49.3 in-zone percentage he owned through April and May. But in his first two outings in Triple-A, he showed that he’s getting back on the right path.
“I think most encouraging along with those two factors is his last outing, he threw one inning with 17 pitches, but he threw [with an] 82 percent in-zone rate,” Willis said. “The stuff we’re talking about, he was actually throwing it in the strike zone. He had a 50 percent swing-and-miss rate in the strike zone, but again, 82 percent of his pitches were in the zone, and that’s hugely important.”
Karinchak needs more than two innings before he can safely assume that his efforts have gotten him back on track. However, the goal is that he can get back with the big league club before the end of the season.
“I think that would be our hope,” Indians president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti said. “We would want to make sure it’s the right thing for James and that he’s made real progress down there. His first couple outings have been encouraging. I think what we’d like to do is see that consistently. And as importantly, let James feel like he’s ready to come up and contribute and help get outs.”
Bieber benefits from Akron playoff race
Shane Bieber is set to make his second rehab start in Akron on Sunday afternoon -- a game that just so happens to be the most important for the RubberDucks of the season. If Akron wins, the team will make the playoffs, and there’s no one better to have on the mound than the 2020 AL Cy Young Award winner. But for Bieber, it may be a solid stepping stone to getting back into big league action.
“I think Akron would definitely say that’s a positive,” Willis said. “I do think playing a game today that’s a must-win for them to get into the playoffs adds a little bit of intensity. Biebs and I talked about that a little bit yesterday. He’s looking forward to that challenge. I think it allows him to maybe step it up a little bit more, certainly within maintaining himself. I think it’s a good situation.”
Jones likely to get surgery
Nolan Jones, the Indians' No. 3 prospect per MLB Pipeline, was placed on Triple-A Columbus’ injured list on Sept. 1 with an ankle sprain that would likely shut him down for the rest of the season. Now, it looks like surgery is going to be the next step.
“It was a high ankle sprain. The procedure would be to stabilize the ankle,” Antonetti said. “He would be [ready for Spring Training]. That’s the expectation.”
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