Cincinnati Reds: Joel Kuhnel adds power to the bullpen

Joel Kuhnel wasn’t on anyone’s radar early this season, but the flame-throwing reliever has provided some much needed power to the Cincinnati Reds bullpen.

No one really knew what to expect when Joel Kuhnel was called up from the minor leagues. Let’s be honest, few, if any, fans even knew who Joel Kuhnel was. However, after spending the last month in the Cincinnati Reds bullpen, Kuhnel appears to be a keeper. His fastball has the ability to overwhelm hitters and he may be counted on a lot next season.

Kuhnel received the call on August 15th when the Reds shuffled up their bullpen. Jared Hughes was picked up by the Philadelphia Phillies, Sal Romano returned to Triple-A Louisville and Matt Bowman was recalled to the big leagues.

Lost in all those moves was the addition of Kuhnel to the 25-man roster. The flame-throwing right-hander who’d spent the 2019 season in Double-A Chattanooga and Triple-A Louisville, had worn out his welcome in the minor leagues with a combined 2.19 ERA at both stops. It was time to see what Kuhnel could do in the big leagues.

Ranked as the Reds No. 24 prospect according to MLB Pipeline, the 6’5″, 260-pound Kuhnel is an imposing presence on the mound. As you’d expect, he’s got some power in that arm. Kuhnel routinely reaches the upper 90s and can top out over 100-MPH. Outside of Michael Lorenzen, the Reds don’t really have a power-arm in the bullpen.

Adding more intrigue to Kuhnel’s future is his ability to manipulate hitters into keeping the ball on the ground. While his ground ball rate decreased from last year at Advanced-A Daytona (51.7%) to this season at Double-A Chattanooga (38%), Kuhnel has kept the ball down during his brief stint with the Reds. His ground ball rate with Cincinnati is currently sitting at 50%.

Joel Kuhenl relies heavily on his fastball, and if I had that type of gas behind my best pitch, I’d be throwing it a lot too. But, Kuhenl also works in an above-average slider and occasionally throws a changeup. If Kuhnel is able to tweak those other two pitches this offseason, he could be a real weapon for the Cincinnati Reds next season.

Kuhnel’s 6.14 ERA is deceiving, as he’s only appeared in eight games this season. Outside of  rough outing in Pittsburgh in which the Reds lost 14-0, Kuhnel has pitched quite well. If you remove that one appearance, his ERA is sitting at 1.80, having allowed just one earned run in seven innings of work.

Hopefully the Reds have found an additional internal option to bring into late-game situations. Outside of Lorenzen and Amir Garrett, Cincinnati has few options to bring into the game when the opposition is within striking distance.