The Orioles completed their three-day minicamp Wednesday in Sarasota, Fla., and one of the participants was right-hander Joe Gunkel.
The 25-year-old Gunkel has been in the Orioles’ organization since he was traded by the Boston Red Sox for outfielder Alejandro De Aza in June 2015.
This has been a big offseason for Gunkel, who was added to the Orioles’ 40-man roster in November, and now will be part of big-league spring training camp.
He talks about that honor, about the recent mini-camp experience and about meeting new Orioles pitching coach Roger McDowell in the newest segment of our “Minor League Podcast with Adam Pohl.”
Pohl, the voice of the Double-A Bowie Baysox, announced plenty of games pitched by Gunkel in the past two years, and the two discuss Gunkel’s progression through the minors.
A former 18th-round pick out of West Chester University by the Boston Red Sox in 2013, Gunkel made 17 starts for the Baysox in 2015 and four more for Bowie last year.
Overall in 2016, Gunkel was 8-14 with a 4.02 ERA in 28 starts between Triple-A Norfolk and Bowie. He is expected to be in Norfolk’s rotation to begin the season, but has hopes of making his big-league debut in 2017.
He told Pohl that he’s been working on some things, including a split-fingered fastball that he learned from teammate Oliver Drake.
If you want to know more about a starting pitcher who could get a call-up to the Orioles in 2017, give this a listen.
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