CLEVELAND, Ohio – Former Bryant University baseball pitcher James Karinchak has been selected to the Cleveland Indians Opening Day roster. The 2020 Major League Baseball season begins on July 23.

Karinchak pitched three seasons for the Bulldogs before being drafted in the ninth round of the 2017 MLB Amateur Draft. As a Bulldog, he went 26-11 with a 2.83 ERA and 272 strikeouts in 229.0 career innings. Karinchak was the 2015 NEC Rookie of the Year, the 2016 NEC Pitcher of the Year and a Second Team All-American after going 12-3 with a 2.00 ERA and a program-record 112 strikeouts.

Karinchak made his professional debut on July 2, 2017 for Mahoning Valley in the Class A New York-Penn League. He struck out 31 batters in 23.1 innings during the 2017 season before going 4-2 with 14 saves and a 1.29 ERA across three levels in 2018. He struck out 81 in 48.2 innings. Karinchak emerged as one of the premier relievers in minor league baseball in 2019, striking out 74 batters in 30.1 innings across three levels before being called up to Cleveland in September.

Karinchak made his MLB debut on September 14, 2019 against Minnesota. He struck out three over 1.1 innings of relief in his debut and went on to strikeout eight over five appearances and 5.1 innings.