Joel Kuhnel

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Born
1995 (30 years old)

Birth Place
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Goldsboro, NC, United States

Position
Pitcher

Status
Active

Ethnicity
White

Team Number
49

Height
6' 4"

Weight
280 lbs

Outfitter

Kit

Side
Right

Agent

Wage Year

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Full Body Render

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Sport

Baseball

Team
Sugar Land Skeeters

2nd Team

League
Pacific Coast League

Creative Commons Artwork
Yes

Description

Joel Kenneth Kuhnel (born February 19, 1995) is an American professional baseball pitcher in the Houston Astros organization. He has previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Cincinnati Reds.
Amateur career
Kuhnel attended Sunrise Mountain High School in Peoria, Arizona. Undrafted in the 2013 Major League Baseball draft, he enrolled at Central Arizona College where he played college baseball.

As a freshman at Central Arizona in 2014, Kuhnel pitched to a 2–0 record with a 1.62 ERA over 39 innings. After the season, he transferred to the University of Texas at Arlington. In 2015, his first season with UTA, he went 4–4 with a 3.55 ERA over 16 games (12 starts). As a junior in 2016, Kuhnel compiled a 6–4 record with a 2.99 ERA across 12 starts. After the year, he was selected by the Cincinnati Reds in the 11th round of the 2016 Major League Baseball draft.

Professional career
Kuhnel signed with the Reds and made his professional debut with the Billings Mustangs, pitching to a 0–1 record and a 3.43 ERA over 18 relief appearances. In 2017, he pitched with the Dayton Dragons and compiled a 2–4 record, a 4.36 ERA, and 54 strikeouts over 64 relief innings pitched, and in 2018, he played for the Daytona Tortugas, with whom he was named a Florida State League All-Star, going 1–4 with a 3.04 ERA in 44 games pitched out of the bullpen. Kuhnel began 2019 with the Chattanooga Lookouts, earning Southern League All-Star honors, and was promoted to the Louisville Bats in June. Over 41 relief appearances between the two teams, he went 5-3 with a 2.18 ERA and fifty strikeouts over 53+2⁄3 innings.

On August 15, 2019, the Reds selected Kuhnel's contract and promoted him to the major leagues. He made his major league debut on August 16 versus the St. Louis Cardinals. He pitched a total of 9+2⁄3 innings for the Reds in 2019, going 1-0 with a 4.66 ERA and nine strikeouts. In 2020, Kuhnel pitched to a 6.00 ERA over three games and three innings pitched. On October 26, 2020, he was outrighted off of the 40-man roster. He spent all of 2021 in the minor leagues, but missed a majority of the season while dealing with a shoulder injury, and pitched only eight innings throughout the course of the year.