2022 Stats
W-L
2-0
ERA
2.08
WHIP
1.10
K
62
SV
3
2023 Projections
2023 Fantasy Outlook
Karinchak was one of Cleveland's biggest question marks coming into 2022 after a volatile season the year before. Unfortunately, he strained the teres muscle in his right shoulder during spring training and the injury required a trip to the 60-day IL. Karinchak didn't make his season debut until July, but the returns were promising as he went on a 23-game scoreless streak after struggling in his first two outings. The 27-year-old's velocity was fine and he improved his strikeout rate (38.8%) by nearly six percent, but still averaged nearly five walks per nine innings, which would have been a bottom 10 rate among relievers if he pitched enough innings to qualify. Karinchak's days of sharing the Guardians' closer role are over, but he should remain one of the top options for ancillary saves behind Emmanuel Clase, while maintaining deeper mixed-league appeal due to his strikeout upside. Read Past Outlooks

Clean outing Tuesday
Karinchak struck out one over 1.1 scoreless innings in Tuesday's Cactus League loss to the Dodgers.
ANALYSIS
Karinchak has covered 7.1 innings this spring, though he's allowed five home runs, five hits and five walks with nine strikeouts. There shouldn't be too much concern for his performance this spring, as long as he can leave his uneven pitching in Arizona when the Guardians begin the campaign. Karinchak should serve in a high-leverage role as a setup man to Emmanuel Clase.
Karinchak has covered 7.1 innings this spring, though he's allowed five home runs, five hits and five walks with nine strikeouts. There shouldn't be too much concern for his performance this spring, as long as he can leave his uneven pitching in Arizona when the Guardians begin the campaign. Karinchak should serve in a high-leverage role as a setup man to Emmanuel Clase.
Pitching Stats
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2022
2021
2020
2019
2022 MLB Game Log
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Minor League Game Log

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Pitching Appearances Breakdown
Average Pitch Count
19
Last 10 Games
21
Last 5 Games
22
How many pitches does James Karinchak generally throw?
1-10
11-20
21-30
31-40
41-50
51-60
61-70
71-80
81-90
91-100
101-110
111-120
121+
What part of the game does James Karinchak generally pitch?
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
6th
7th
8th
9th
Extra
% Games Reaching Innings Threshold
% Games By Number of Innings Pitched
Left/Right Pitching Splits
Since 2020
-17%
BAA vs LHP
2022
-34%
BAA vs LHP
BAA | K | BB | H | HR | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Since 2020vs Left | .154 | 98 | 36 | 34 | 5 | |||
Since 2020vs Right | .185 | 92 | 33 | 37 | 7 | |||
2022vs Left | .129 | 29 | 10 | 9 | 1 | |||
2022vs Right | .194 | 33 | 11 | 13 | 1 | |||
2021vs Left | .158 | 48 | 17 | 18 | 4 | |||
2021vs Right | .200 | 30 | 15 | 17 | 5 | |||
2020vs Left | .189 | 21 | 9 | 7 | 0 | |||
2020vs Right | .146 | 29 | 7 | 7 | 1 | |||
More Splits→ | View More Split Stats |
Home/Away Pitching Splits
Since 2020
-2%
ERA on Road
2022
-13%
ERA at Home
ERA | WHIP | IP | K/9 | BB/9 | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Since 2020Home | 3.15 | 1.07 | 60.0 | 14.6 | 4.5 | ||||
Since 2020Away | 3.08 | 1.24 | 61.1 | 14.1 | 5.7 | ||||
2022Home | 1.93 | 0.86 | 18.2 | 13.5 | 3.9 | ||||
2022Away | 2.21 | 1.33 | 20.1 | 15.0 | 5.8 | ||||
2021Home | 4.18 | 1.25 | 28.0 | 14.1 | 5.1 | ||||
2021Away | 3.95 | 1.17 | 27.1 | 11.2 | 5.3 | ||||
2020Home | 2.70 | 0.98 | 13.1 | 16.9 | 4.1 | ||||
2020Away | 2.63 | 1.24 | 13.2 | 18.4 | 6.6 | ||||
More Splits→ | View More Split Stats |
Stat Review
How does James Karinchak compare to other relievers?
This section compares his stats with all relief pitcher seasons from the previous three seasons (minimum 30 innings)*. The bar represents the player's percentile rank. For example, if the bar is halfway across, then the player falls into the 50th percentile for that stat and it would be considered average.
* Exit Velocity, Barrels/BBE %, Balls Hit 95+ MPH %, and Spin Rate are benchmarked against 2019 data (min 30 IP). See here for more exit velocity/barrels stats plus an explanation of current limitations with that data set.
* Exit Velocity, Barrels/BBE %, Balls Hit 95+ MPH %, and Spin Rate are benchmarked against 2019 data (min 30 IP). See here for more exit velocity/barrels stats plus an explanation of current limitations with that data set.
K/BB
2.95K/9
14.3BB/9
4.8HR/9
0.5Fastball
95.2 mphERA
2.08WHIP
1.10BABIP
.294GB/FB
0.56Left On Base
84.6%Exit Velocity
82.5 mphBarrels/BBE
3.8%Spin Rate
2364 rpmBalls Hit 95+ MPH
20.5%Swinging Strike
12.9%Prospect Rankings History
Advanced Pitching Stats
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Defensive Stats
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Stats Vs Today's Lineup
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Past Fantasy Outlooks
2022
2021
2020
Karinchak wasn't Cleveland's full-time closer after all. While it looked like the flamethrower might be on that path early last season - he was absolutely dominant from April through June with a 2.60 ERA, 1.01 WHIP and 59 strikeouts in 34.2 innings - there was a noticeable downswing in Karinchak's performance once MLB banned pitchers from using sticky substances. He simply fell apart after July 1, posting a 6.53 ERA, 1.55 WHIP and 19 strikeouts over 20.2 innings the rest of the way. Walks were still a major issue (5.2 BB/9) and he served up nine home runs (1.5 HR/9), thus resulting in a demotion to the minors in late-August. Not all value was lost, as he still posted seven wins, 11 saves and 13 holds across 60 appearances. Karinchak will have to prove to Cleveland this spring that he's capable of handling high-leverage work again. We've seen his upside and he could very easily re-enter the mix for saves.
More Fantasy News

Roughed up in first spring game
Karinchak allowed two runs on two hits and a walk with two strikeouts over one inning in Sunday's Cactus League loss to the Rangers.
ANALYSIS
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Earns win Wednesday
Karinchak (2-0) struck out the side to earn the extra-inning win over the Rays on Wednesday.
ANALYSIS
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Tallies third save
Karinchak allowed one hit and struck out one across a scoreless ninth inning to earn the save Wednesday against the Angels.
ANALYSIS
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Earns second save
Karinchak picked up the save in Sunday's 4-1 win over the Twins. He struck out three in one scoreless inning with two walks and no hits allowed.
ANALYSIS
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Posts first save
Karinchak struck out two in a perfect inning to earn the save in Tuesday's 4-1 win over the Royals.
ANALYSIS
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