James Karinchak turning into bullpen demon Guardians fans hoped he would be 

On June 10, the Atlanta Braves recalled James Karinchak for his first big league action since he had 39 okay innings for the Guardians in 2023. 

Luckily for Braves fans, his time with Atlanta has been much better than okay, as Karinchak entered play tonight having thrown 5 2/3 scoreless innings across five innings with Atlanta. 

At one point, Karinchak was viewed as a key piece of the Guardians’ future before injuries and ineffectiveness interrupted those plans. But now it looks like he’s re-found that dominant form in his first two weeks pitching out of the Braves’ bullpen. 

James Karinchak has been pitching well for the Braves

Karinchak’s best outing with the Braves came on Monday when he tossed 1 2/3 scoreless innings against the Padres. While the Padres ended up winning 1-0, Karinchak did his part by getting out of five of the six batters he faced across the sixth and seventh inning. 

He allowed his lone baserunner in the sixth when he surrendered a two-out walk to Will Wagner, though he was able to get out of the jam by getting Rodolfo Durán to strike out looking. He went out for the eighth inning and retired Frenando Tatis Jr. and Samad Taylor before being pulled. 

It marked Karinchak’s first multi-inning outing since he tossed 1 1/3 innings against the Tigers on Aug. 18, 2023. 

Although we’re obviously at the mercy of small sample sizes here, Karinchak’s also posted some stellar advanced stats in his time with Atlanta. His expected ERA of 1.70 and expected batting average of .105 would both be in the 99th percentile if he had enough innings to qualify for Baseball Savant’s leaderboards, and he’s also posted a stellar 25% hard-hit rate. 

While his strikeout numbers aren’t where they were during his peak with the Guardians (five strikeouts in five innings), he’s only allowed two walks, which is a positive sign considering he walked 28 batters in 39 innings in his final big league season with the Guardians. 

He still throws just two pitches (fastball and curveball), but he finally seems to have figured out a way to consistently hit the strike zone with both of them. 

And all that sets up what could be an interesting week for Karinchak in the Braves’ bullpen since Tyler Kinley is nearing a return from the IL. Kinley’s been on the IL since June 10 due to right elbow inflammation, but could be getting closer to a return. 

But even if Karinchak’s currently working in a low-leverage role (alongside old friend Carlos Carrasco), it seems like he’s done enough to prove that he should still be a part of Atlanta’s bullpen for the rest of the season. 

He may not be the same kind of pitcher that he was when he was pitching at the height of his powers with the Guardians, but it seems like there’s a good chance he’s going to get a chance to author the next chapter of his career in Atlanta.

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