Indians call up James Karinchak

The Cleveland Indians needed some bullpen help to continue their postseason push as they called up highly touted reliever James Karinchak.

It’s James Karinchak time. The Cleveland Indians have called up the strikeout machine to the big league roster. Karinchak figures to be a key piece in the bullpen as the Indians fight for their playoff lives. 

81% of James Karinchak’s outs have come by a strikeout. Karinchak certainly fits the profile of what the Indians need. A high impact reliever who can strike out a ton of batters. 

As Justin Lada points out, Karinchak’s ability to tunnel pitches will serve him well. Making it a appear that his fastball and curveball are coming out the same arm slot will make lives more difficult for opposing batters.

With the news that Brad Hand is dealing with arm fatigue, it may shuffle up the Tribe bullpen. While Karinchak probably will not see time as a closer, the situations he will be put in could be pretty important to the final outcome of a ballgame. 

James Karinchak may be one of several arms that Tito depends on when the Indians need to go to the bullpen. Adding another good arm down there will take the pressure off of other arms in the bullpen. Not having to exhaust all the quality bullpen arms in one game will do wonders for the Indians. They will need as many relief arms as they can get as the season comes to a close.