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Rob Kaminsky

Cardinals Sign Rob Kaminsky To Minor League Deal

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The Cardinals have signed left-handed pitcher Rob Kaminsky to a minor league contract for the 2025 season, the team announced. This will be the 30-year-old’s third stint with the organization and his 12th professional campaign.

Kaminsky first signed with St. Louis in 2013 as the 28th overall pick in the draft. Despite his young age – he made his pro debut at 18 – the southpaw impressed right away. Over his first three years in the Cardinals system, he threw 217 1/3 innings between Rookie ball and High-A, pitching to a 2.15 ERA and 2.90 FIP.

St. Louis traded Kaminsky to Cleveland ahead of the 2015 trade deadline, in exchange for Brandon Moss. It was after the trade that Kaminsky began to struggle, and questions about his ability to stick in the rotation began to arise. Following a 2017 season almost completely lost to injury, he pitched exclusively out of the bullpen in 2018 and ’19, compiling a 3.31 ERA and 4.01 FIP in 84 1/3 innings pitched. While his numbers were solid (if unspectacular), he had largely fallen off of top prospects lists by that time. He elected minor league free agency after the 2019 season.

Kaminsky re-joined the Cardinals on a minor league pact that winter and made his MLB debut the following summer. He pitched 4 2/3 innings in 2020, striking out three and walking two. He gave up three runs, although only one was earned. Despite his serviceable results, the Cardinals DFA’d him after his fifth appearance in September. He has not returned the to major leagues since.

From 2021-24, Kaminsky bounced from the Phillies to the Mariners to the Staten Island FerryHawks of the Atlantic League and back to the Mariners. He dealt with various injury issues in that time and struggled to make much of an impact when he did take the mound. That being said, it’s worth noting that he made eight starts at Triple-A Tacoma in 2024. It was the first time he had made more than two starts in a season since 2016. Kaminsky is highly unlikely to make the Opening Day roster, but he will offer the Cardinals some left-handed depth for the bullpen, and possibly the rotation, too. Perhaps a return to his former club will help him get back on track as he strives to return to the majors in 2025.

Mariners Sign Rob Kaminsky To Minor League Deal

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The Mariners have signed left-hander Rob Kaminsky to a minor league deal, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. The southpaw has been assigned to Triple-A Tacoma and will give the club some non-roster depth.

Kaminsky, 29, has a small amount of major league experience, having pitched for the Cardinals in 2020. He appeared in five games that year with a 1.93 earned run average in a small sample of 4 2/3 innings. He lost his roster spot later that year and has been limited to minor league deals in subsequent seasons.

For the most part, his minor league results have involved few strikeouts but lots of ground balls. From 2021 to 2023, he tossed 78 innings in the minors with a 4.96 ERA. His 21.4% strikeout rate in that time was subpar but he got opponents to hit the ball into the dirt around half the time.

This year, Kaminsky made two appearances for the Staten Island Ferry Hawks of The Atlantic League, tossing 6 2/3 innings. He struck out five but also allowed five walks. Last month, he retweeted some footage of himself pitching at Driveline, with his fastball seeming to get above 92 miles per hour and his secondary offerings in the mid-to-high 80s. In his brief big league stint, Statcast had his fastball averaging 91.6 mph, his knuckle curve at 84.9 mph and his changeup at 83.1 mph.

The M’s have had some bullpen injuries this year, with each of Matt Brash, Jackson Kowar, Gregory Santos and Gabe Speier on the injured list. Brash and Kowar each had Tommy John surgery and won’t be coming back this season. Tayler Saucedo is the only lefty in the big league bullpen at the moment. The Mariners are plenty familiar with Kaminsky as he was in their system the previous two seasons, so have tapped him for an extra left-hander in the minors.

Minor MLB Transactions: 4/23/23

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A few minor transactions around the baseball world have occurred recently:

  • Per his profile on MLB.com, right-hander Trevor Hildenberger has been released by the Giants. Hildenberger, who signed a minor league deal with the Giants back in December, last appeared in the majors in 2021 with the Mets. In that two appearance stint he allowed four runs on three hits and three walks in 2 1/3 innings while notching four strikeouts. Prior to his stint with the Mets, Hildenberger had been part of the Twins bullpen from 2017-2019 after the club selected him in the 22nd round of the 2014 draft. As a member of the Twins, Hildenberger pitched to a 5.35 ERA with a 4.08 FIP in 131 1/3 innings of work. In the minors, Hildenberger sports a career 4.43 ERA in 85 1/3 innings at the Triple-A level.
  • The Dodgers recently released right-hander Rubby De La Rosa according to Chris Hilburn-Trenkle of Baseball America. De La Rosa, 34, has amassed 421 1/3 innings in the big leagues across seven seasons, but hasn’t pitched in the majors since 2017. With a 4.49 ERA (91 ERA+) and 4.55 FIP in the big leagues, De La Rosa headed to Japan to pitch for the Yoimuri Giants from 2019-2022 before signing a minors deal with the Dodgers back in February. With a 2.53 ERA in 124 1/3 innings of work out of the bullpen in Japan, it’s certainly possible another club could be interested in giving De La Rosa a shot on a minors deal.
  • The Mariners recently signed left-hander Rob Kaminsky and right-hander Braden Shipley to minor league deals, per Hilburn-Trenkle. Kaminsky has five career games in the big leagues under his belt, all of which came during the 2020 season with the Cardinals. The lefty pitched to a solid 1.93 ERA over 4 2/3 innings of work, though he has amassed just 41 2/3 innings of work in the minor leagues since. Shipley, meanwhile, has 100 career innings in the big leagues across the 2016-2018 seasons with the Diamondbacks, though he struggled to a 5.49 ERA over those 26 games (14 starts). A former first-round draft pick, Shipley returns to the Mariners after pitching for their Double-A affiliate last season, with a 3.79 ERA in 54 2/3 innings of work.

Minor MLB Transactions: 4/20/21

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Tuesday’s minor moves from around baseball:

  • The White Sox selected right-hander Alex McRae before their game against the Indians and optioned righty Zack Burdi to their alternate site. McRae, a 10th-round pick of the Pirates in 2014, amassed 33 innings with the team from 2018-19, but he struggled to an 8.18 ERA with similarly unappealing strikeout and walk percentages of 14.6 and 12.8, respectively. The Pirates outrighted McRae after his second season in the majors, and he caught on with the White Sox on a minor league contract. The 28-year-old threw three scoreless innings for the club in 2020, but it then outrighted him before bringing him back on another minors deal.
  • The Phillies have signed left-hander Rob Kaminsky to a minors pact and added him to their player pool, per a team announcement. Kaminsky, the 28th overall pick of the Cardinals in 2013, left the St. Louis organization when the team traded him to Cleveland in a 2015 deal centering on slugger Brandon Moss. The 26-year-old rejoined the Cardinals on a minor league contract heading into last season and wound up making his MLB debut. Kaminsky allowed one earned run on three hits and two walks (three strikeouts) in 4 2/3 innings with the Cardinals, who outrighted him in September.

Cardinals Outright Rob Kaminsky

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Left-hander Rob Kaminsky, whom the Cardinals designated for assignment Sept. 16, has cleared waivers and will remain with the organization, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.

Kaminsky was a first-round pick (No. 28) for the Cardinals in 2013, but he is already in his second stint with the franchise. The Cardinals traded Kaminsky to the Indians in 2015 for slugger Brandon Moss, but the Redbirds brought the hurler back before 2020 on a minor league contract.

The 26-year-old Kaminsky made the first five MLB appearances of his career earlier this season and gave up three runs (one earned) on three hits and one walk in 4 2/3 innings. Kaminsky logged a 60 percent groundball rate over that small sample of work, and he has always posted high GB rates in the minors. Despite that, Kaminsky struggled to a 5.11 ERA with 11.3 K/9 and 5.1 BB/9 in a 24 2/3-inning Triple-A debut with the Indians last season.

Cardinals Designate Rob Kaminsky Amid Flurry Of Roster Moves

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The Cardinals announced a series of roster moves Wednesday, perhaps most notably designating left-hander Rob Kaminsky for assignment. The Cards also reinstated Johan Oviedo from the Covid-19 injured list and recalled both infielder Max Schrock and righty Junior Fernandez from the alternate training site. Right-hander Nabil Crismatt and outfielder Lane Thomas were optioned to the alternate site in a pair of corresponding moves, while outfielder Justin Williams is up from the alternate site as the 29th man for today’s doubleheader.

Kaminsky, a former first-round pick of the Cardinals (28th overall in 2013) made his Major League debut as a 26-year-old this season. He didn’t take the most direct route, as he was traded to the Indians for Brandon Moss several years ago, eventually released in Cleveland and returned to the Cards on a minor league deal. The rocky journey likely only made his return to the organization and 2020 MLB debut that much sweeter for Kaminsky, but it appears his time in the big leagues will be short-lived — at least in this go-around.

Kaminsky tossed 4 2/3 innings of relief for the Cards this year, allowing two earned runs on three hits and a pair of walks with three strikeouts and a 60 percent ground-ball rate. The Cards can’t explore trades involving him at this point, so if they hope to keep Kaminsky in the organization, they’ll have to count on him clearing outright waivers. Kaminsky wouldn’t be postseason-eligible if another club claimed him, but he can be controlled through at least the 2026 season if a team was impressed by his big league work in a limited sample this year.

Cardinals Make Several Roster Moves

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The Cardinals have made four call-ups from their alternate training site, as left-hander Rob Kaminsky, first baseman John Nogowski, and right-handers Ryan Meisinger and Seth Elledge are all joining the active roster.  They will take the roster spots left open by infielder Max Schrock and righties Daniel Ponce de Leon and Junior Fernandez, who are all headed to the alternate site.  In addition, left-hander Ricardo Sanchez has been placed on the 10-day injured list due to pain in his throwing elbow.

Ponce de Leon, Fernandez, Sanchez, and even Schrock (in mop-up duty) pitched in last night’s 14-2 loss to the Indians.  Ponce de Leon started and lasted only two-thirds of an inning, allowing four runs on four walks and two hits.

This demotion won’t last long, as Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that Ponce De Leon will be back as the 29th man for next weekend’s doubleheader against the Cubs.  As for Ponce De Leon’s normal starting spot, however, Johan Oviedo will now take a regular turn in the rotation.  Oviedo has made two starts already for the Cards this season, looking solid in posting a 3.60 ERA over 10 innings.

Sanchez’s ominous-sounding injury continues what has already been a difficult year for the 23-year-old, as he missed two weeks in July recovering from a COVID-19 diagnosis.  The southpaw did make his big league debut this season, posting a 6.75 ERA over 5 1/3 IP (three games).

Cardinals Add Three To Summer Camp Roster

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The Cardinals have added right-hander Seth Elledge and lefties Zack Thompson and Rob Kaminsky to their Summer Camp roster at Busch Stadium, MLB.com’s Anne Rogers tweets. Doing so means each has been added to the team’s 60-man player pool. The Cardinals’ initial pool contained 44 players, and they’ve since added third baseman Elehuris Montero to camp as well (although he was recently diagnosed with COVID-19, as were southpaws Genesis Cabrera and Ricardo Sanchez).

Thompson, 22, is both the most highly regarded of today’s trio of additions and also the furthest from the Majors. The University of Kentucky product was the Cardinals’ first-round pick (No. 19 overall) in 2019 and ranks as their No. 5 prospect at FanGraphs and MLB.com. Thompson, however, only pitched two innings of Rookie ball and 13 1/3 frames with the Cards’ Class-A Advanced club in 2019. His inclusion is likely more for developmental purposes than due to his status a a legitimate option in 2020. He was seen as something of an injury risk in the ’19 draft but draws praise for a plus curve and above-average changeup. He was with the team during the initial Spring Training and tossed three perfect innings with three strikeouts.

Both Elledge and Kaminsky are more likely to be called upon should a need arise in 2020. Elledge, 24, is a pure bullpen prospect who came to the Cards in the trade that sent Sam Tuivailala to the Mariners. He posted a lackluster 4.26 ERA in 67 2/3 innings between Double-A and Triple-A last year, but his overall body of work as a pro is sharp — as was his work in the 2019 Arizona Fall League. Elledge has averaged nearly a dozen punchouts per nine innings pitched but also saw his walk rate jump in Triple-A last year (19 free passes in 34 1/3 innings). With John Brebbia out until 2021 (Tommy John surgery) and Jordan Hicks set to open the year on the IL while rehabbing his own Tommy John procedure, Elledge gives the Cards some right-handed relief depth.

Kaminsky, 25, was a first-round pick by the Cardinals back in 2013 but was traded to the Indians for Brandon Moss two years later. Things didn’t pan out for Kaminsky there, and after spending parts of five seasons in Cleveland’s minor league ranks, he became a minor league free agent this winter, ultimately landing with the Cards on a minors deal.

A 2017 forearm injury cost Kaminsky the entire year and may have helped prompt a shift to the bullpen. He was quite good as a reliever in Double-A both in 2018 and 2019, but he struggled in the supercharged offensive environment in Triple-A last year (5.11 ERA, 31-to-14 K/BB ratio in 24 2/3 frames). Like Elledge, he’s a non-roster player but could conceivably see some MLB action in 2020 if the Cardinals need to tap into their depth.

Minor MLB Transactions: 12/12/19

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Let’s check in on Thursday’s minor moves…

  • The Mets have signed right-hander Pedro Payano to a minor league contract, per Anthony DiComo of MLB.com. As a member of the Texas organization, the 25-year-old Payano struggled to prevent runs in the minors and the majors over the past couple seasons. He made a 22-inning big league debut in 2019 and logged a 5.73 ERA with almost as many walks (15) as strikeouts (17). Walks were also an issue in Triple-A ball last season for Payano, who issued 6.1 free passes per nine (against 9.58 strikeouts) en route to a 5.44 ERA across 41 1/3 frames. The Rangers designated Payano for assignment and then outrighted him in September.
  • The Cardinals have reunited with left-hander Rob Kaminsky on a minors pact, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch tweets. Kaminsky was the 28th overall pick of the Cardinals in the 2013 draft, but they traded him to the Indians two years later for slugger Brandon Moss. Now 25 years old, Kaminsky still hasn’t reached the majors, nor has he garnered much Triple-A experience.  In his debut at the minors’ highest level last season, Kaminsky posted a 5.11 ERA with 11.31 K/9, 5.11 BB/9 and a 59.1 percent groundball rate in 24 2/3 relief innings.
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