Joe Gunkel

[mwonow]

I saw that Gunkel threw three perfect innings with 7 Ks recently, and thought that he should at least have a page of his own here in the Adopt a Prospect forum. So...
 
From milb.com:

 
Full Name: Joe Dillon Gunkel
Born: 12/30/1991
Birthplace: Boynton Beach, FL
College: West Chester, PA
Height: 6' 5"
Weight: 225
Bats: R
Throws: R
 
Sox Prospects says: Big right-hander with excellent pitcher's frame. Workhorse who pitches deep into games. Led West Chester to the 2012 Division II National Championship. Strong makeup. Arsenal includes a 90-92 mph four-seam fastbal with arm side run, an average low-to-mid-80s slider with lateral movement, and a low 80s circle changeup with some drop.  Excellent pitchability.  will be tested at higher levels unless there is significant improvement with changeup.
 
So far this year (with Greenville): 5 appearances, all in relief, 10 IP. Two saves: a one-inning save on April 3, and the aforementioned 3 inning appearance on April 11. He had one rough outing - April 6 - where he gave up 5 hits and 3 runs (2 earned) in 3 innings. Across his other four outings, Gunkel has pitched seven innings with 3 hits, two walks, 11 Ks and no runs allowed.

 

[mwonow]

Quick update on the Gunk-man...he made a total of eight appearances in April, all in relief, pitching a total of 16 innings (with two 1 inning stints, four two-inning appearances, and two three inning appearances). In those 16 innings, he's fanned 21, while allowing 11 hits and four walks. He's given up a total of four earned runs and two homers. 

 

[mwonow]

Quick update - Gunkel has appeared in three games so far in May. Total of 5 IP, with one hit, one walk, no runs allowed, one walk, 9 Ks. Season to date: 10 appearances, 20 IP, one save, 6 runs allowed, 4 earned (1.80 ERA), 30 Ks to 5 BBs (6:1!), opponents hitting .155 against.

 

[Year of Yaz]

Quick update - Gunkel has appeared in three games so far in May. Total of 5 IP, with one hit, one walk, no runs allowed, one walk, 9 Ks. Season to date: 10 appearances, 20 IP, one save, 6 runs allowed, 4 earned (1.80 ERA), 30 Ks to 5 BBs (6:1!), opponents hitting .155 against.

His 2013 stats in Rookie and Lowell were even better: 21IP, 8 hits, 33K and 3 BB.

 

[mwonow]

His 2013 stats in Rookie and Lowell were even better: 21IP, 8 hits, 33K and 3 BB.

Thanks - the legend is growing!  :buddy:
 
Looks like Gunkel is getting stretched out - his last three outings were his three longest of the season, at 3.0, 4.0 and 5.0 innings, the latter two being his first two starts of the year. The five inning stint (May 28) wasn't great - he gave up 5 runs (all earned) on three hits (one HR - a two-out grand slam in the 4th) a walk and a hit batter. His two previous outings were much better: 3 IP with 2 hits, 3 Ks, no walks or runs (and a W) on May 16, and 4 IP with no hits, one wal, 6 Ks (and a save) on May 23. For the season: 14 appearances, 33 IP, 1-0 with two saves. In those 33 innings he's allowed 17 hits, 7 walks, and 11 runs (9 earned) with 44 Ks. His ERA is 2.45, and opponents are hitting just .147.
 
All things considered, it's been a really encouraging season for JG so far. He's got the best WHIP on the Greenville staff, and the best K/IP of any Greenville pitcher with >10 IP (1.33 - Cody Kukuk and Pat Light are the only others above 1.0). He's starting again today. Here's hoping June will continue to build the legend!

 

[TheGoldenGreek33]

Gunkel is a personal cheeseball of mine ever since his dominance in the 2012 DII WS. He tossed a one-hit CG SHO in the opener and a five-hit CG SHO in the title game. Nothing flashy about him. Just has a great feel for pitching and impeccable fastball command. 

 

[mabrowndog]

Gunkel has been promoted to Salem along with Jordan Weems & Jantzen Witte.

 

[ji oh]

From the free teaser part of a BP article
http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=23957#.U6gHn0tZRio.twitter
 
"Joe Gunkel, RHP, Red Sox (High-A Salem)
I caught Gunkel's start the other week when I visited Hagerstown to watch Lucas Giolito. The Nationals starter stole the show, but Gunkel walked away with the victory and the better stat line. While he does nothing great, Gunkel has solid command of his fastball. His arm slot is nearly sidearmed, which helps to play up the fringe-average 89-92 mph fastball. The Hagerstown lineup generally struggled to pick up the fastball out of his hand, and he was able to work his fringe changeup and slider when needed. He was quietly strong in this outing, and the Sox promoted him to Salem shortly after. There is not much growth left in terms of frame or overall skill set, and he won’t be making any prospect lists anytime soon, but he could be a role 4 middle reliever in the bigs at some point. –Tucker Blair"

 

[mwonow]

Thanks for this, ji oh. Gunkel's first start at Salem was pretty consistent with this description - he didn't 'wow', giving up three runs (all earned) on three hits in 5.1, with two walks and three ks, but came away with a W anyway, thanks to Salem batting around to score 6 in the top of the 5th.
 
Good to see Gunkel advancing though (thanks for the update, mabrowndog!), he had shown that he was ready to move up from SAL hitters. His pre-promotion line at Greenville: 3-0, with 62 Ks (against only 11 walks) in 51.1 innings, 2.28 ERA, .149 BA against.

 

[mwonow]

I figured it was time for an end-of-month update on Mr. G. He;s now pitched in three games in Salem, and is clearly finding it harder to get batters to chase at the higher level. He's now started three games, and has given up 14 hits (if only 4 BBs) against 11 Ks. He's 1-1 with a 2.93 ERA, and with opponents hitting .259 against him.

 

[mwonow]

Gunkel had a rough night last night against the young Yaz and his Frederick Keys teammates, giving up 9 runs (6 earned) in 5 full (he pitched to 3 batters in the 6th, all of whom scored). Gunkel is now 1-2 with a 4.87 ERA at Salem, and has surrendered 24 hits and 5 walks in 20 innings, while striking out 14.
 
Speaking of rough nights, though...how about Salem RF Aneury Tavarez? 1-5 with three Ks (all swinging) and THREE errors. That's not one for the scrapbook!

 

[mwonow]

I wanted to provide a little EOY perspective on Mr. G. He definitely struggled a bit when he went from Greenville to Salem, with his ERA rising from 2.28 to 4.64. He did maintain a 3:1 K/bb ratio (39/13) in high A. At least some of his struggles through the latter party of the year might be attributable to working on a slider - here's a link to an article saying that he threw one for the first time (as a pro, anyway) in June: http://www.milb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20140615&content_id=79824152&fext=.jsp&vkey=news_milb&sid=milb

 

[mwonow]

Updating with an interest comment from Drek717 in the ml forum. Sorry, I don't really know how to cross-post, so this is just a copy & paste..
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Drek717

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Is this a sign that Gunkel is a bullpen arm now? He was used exclusively as a starter during his stint in Salem last year and Sox prospects lists him as a piggyback starter but seems to be an odd usage if that's the case.

Could be the same as last year though where he started out in the bullpen/as a piggy back starter in Greenville, kept blowing guys away to where his performance dictated more innings, and handled the larger workload without a decline in performance.  He went from otherworldly in Greenville to mediocre in Salem last year, so I'd imagine the goal is to find if he can get back to that god-tier production and then see about working his innings count up.
 
I do suspect that they ultimately view him as a reliever though.  He's 23, basically a two pitch guy (fastball/slider), and a lot of his success in Greenville has been attributed to his arm slot and poor view it gives RHBs.  It's entirely likely that as he faces more advanced opposition LHBs will tee off on him and her currently is lacking the versatility in his arsenal to go through a lineup of professionals multiple times.  Also, he could move up fast as a bullpen guy so there is tangible benefits to focusing on his per batter productivity over the ability to give total innings.
 
On that subject, this might be the most intriguing mL bullpen depth we've seen in quite a while.  Pat Light is being given a good challenge being assigned to Portland for his first taste of the high minors, but the raw stuff has always been there so maybe this makes it click.  Noe Ramirez has always gotten it done out of the 'pen and is now within reach of Boston.  Jonathan Aro looks like he's following in Noe's footsteps with more Ks.  Then you have Gunkel rounding out the not really on the radar guys, meanwhile Pawtucket has Noe buried behind Escobar, Workman, Hembree, Hinojosa, and Spruill.  Plus Barnes might well see his next ML stint out of the 'pen.
 
The ML bullpen has some questions for sure but lord knows they've stocked plenty of arms from Salem to Pawtucket that they can reinforce from.  It will be very interesting to see how they all fare this season.



 
As would be implied from the above, Joe G is starting the year in the Salem pen

 

[mwonow]

Quick update on Mr. Joe: after 22 good innings in Salem (a 2.05 ERA, .909 WHIP, 9K/9, 5.5K/walk), he's been promoted to Portland. His first outing there wasn't great (three runs in 3.1 innings) but it did have its good points (6 Ks vs. 1 walk), and Gunkel has shown in the past that he needs some time to adjust to new levels. At 23, he's a little younger than your average AA player, so really, for the first time, he's inching towards the fast (or at least, faster) track. After mostly starting last year, he's pitching out of the bullpen - probably not as close to getting a callup as teammate Pat Light, but on the bullpen radar...

 

[mwonow]

And just after I post this bit about the bullpen, I see Cuzitt's post talking about Gunkel's first Portland start. The lesson continues: trust Cuzitt on this stuff, not me!
 
Anyway, the start was a good one for JG. From Cuzitt's post:
 
SeaDogs win 4-1.
 
Boxscore
 
Joe Gunkel went 5 innings, allowing a run on 6 hits and 4 walks; striking out 6. Simon Mercedes went 2 innings, giving up a hit and a walk; striking out one. Jorge Marban went 2 innings, striking out 3.

 

[Hee Sox Choi]

Traded to the O's for De Aza.

 

[Stan Papi Was Framed]

Traded to the O's for De Aza.

not thrilled to see a possible bullpen piece dealt away, though admittedly Gunkel is far from a sure thing.  But his numbers have been good and he has been tough on righties.  does Aza have upside?  not sure I understand this deal.
 
or, as Red Sox Stats tweeted:
 
Red Sox Stats ‏@redsoxstats 5h5 hours ago
I can't believe Ben traded a prospect even slightly interesting for Alejandro De Aza.