Cleveland Guardians injury news: James Karinchak to miss time
By Kevin Henry
The Cleveland Guardians will be without James Karinchak, one of their most-used relievers last season, for an unknown period of time after the right-hander underwent an MRI and was diagnosed with a strain of his teres major muscle.
According to a tweet from ESPN baseball insider Buster Olney, Karinchak was dealing with soreness in his right arm, triggering the MRI and deeper look into the issue.
How long will the Cleveland Guardians be without relief pitcher James Karinchak?
According to Olney, the injury will be reexamined in seven to 10 days, so he will miss some spring training ramp-up preparation time for the season. While there is improvement, it’s unknown if Karinchak will be available when the Cleveland Guardians open the 2022 season on April 7 at the Kansas City Royals.
Drafted by Cleveland in the ninth round of the 2017 draft, Karinchak made his MLB debut on September 14, 2019, striking out three Minnesota Twins in his 1.1 innings of work. He then pitched in 27 games for Cleveland during the pandemic-shortened season of 2020, posting a 2.67 ERA/1.52 FIP/1.111 WHIP in 27.0 innings. His ERA+ of 168 and 17.7 strikeouts per nine innings helped him finish sixth in the American League Rookie of the Year balloting.
Last season, Karinchak once again played a pivotal role in the Cleveland bullpen, seeing action in 60 games (tied for the third-most appearances on the squad) and finishing 26 of those games. He picked up 11 saves, but gave up nine home runs in 55.2 innings of work.
Earlier in the week, Cleveland resigned veteran reliever Bryan Shaw to a one-year deal. Shaw appeared in an MLB-leading 81 games in 2021 for Cleveland. It marks the third time in a Cleveland uniform that he has led the league in appearances, following 80 outings in 2014 and 79 in 2017.
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Shaw will likely once again take up a bulk of the work in the back end of the bullpen, but Cleveland is hoping that Karinchak’s time on the shelf will be short and he will be able to shoulder some of the load as well.