{"id":524389,"date":"2026-03-07T09:38:17","date_gmt":"2026-03-07T09:38:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/524389\/"},"modified":"2026-03-07T09:38:17","modified_gmt":"2026-03-07T09:38:17","slug":"kevin-ginkel-focused-on-health-postseason","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/524389\/","title":{"rendered":"Kevin Ginkel focused on health, postseason"},"content":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n

Arizona Diamondbacks relief pitcher Kevin Ginkel<\/a> had a 2025 season that was decimated by injuries, but he\u2019s back healthy in 2026 and looking to help lead the Diamondbacks to another postseason run.<\/p>\n

Ginkel had three straight strong seasons for Arizona, averaging an ERA of 3.02, but that ballooned to 7.36 in 29 games last season as he dealt with two different shoulder injuries.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s Ginkel\u2019s main goal for 2026?<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s my health, first and foremost,\u201d he told Arizona Sports\u2019 Wolf & Luke Tuesday. \u201cWatching the club last year in September, when we were really playing for some meaningful games and myself, Puck, Martinez, not being out there was just hard.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d almost like not want to watch the games cause I\u2019m like, \u2018I can\u2019t contribute.\u2019 You know?\u201d<\/p>\n

The Diamondbacks<\/a> fell just short of the postseason last year after making it to the World Series in 2023.<\/p>\n

Ginkel said he wants \u201ca taste of that again.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 2023 season was the best overall season of his career until that point. The Diamondbacks reliever held a 2.48 ERA across 65.1 innings pitched, with four saves (a career-high at the time), 70 strikeouts and a 0.980 WHIP.<\/p>\n

Ginkel went on to pitch 11.2 scoreless innings in the postseason with eight hits and five walks allowed, to go alongside 15 strikeouts.<\/p>\n

His ERA dropped a bit to 3.21 in 2024, but he pitched a career-high 70 innings, earned four saves and 77 strikeouts.<\/p>\n

That all came plummeting down last season, when he registered his career-low -0.8 WAR. Ginkel didn\u2019t make his season debut until April 30<\/a> due to shoulder inflammation, he was sent down to Trilpe-A at the end of May into June and then suffered a right shoulder strain in early August that knocked him out for the rest of the season.<\/p>\n

However, Ginkel was cleared for baseball activity and had an additional MRI in mid-September 2025 to confirm. He was able to have a normal off-season, starting his throwing program in November.<\/p>\n

\u201cI started a little earlier this year \u2026 trying to ramp up to get into spring training,\u201d Ginkel said. \u201cI\u2019m just trying to work through some tightness, but for the most part, I feel like this is stuff I can absolutely handle and take care of. I\u2019m doing my absolute best to get in the best shape I can and get my shoulder as strong as it can be to handle 162 games.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to be pitching well right now, but at the same time I really want to be peaking when we get into the second half of the year and play those big games.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ginkel believes Arizona will be prepared for the stress and roller coaster late-season baseball brings because of the Diamondbacks\u2019 experiences over the last three years.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think there\u2019s a level of continuity and overall comfort,\u201d Ginkel said. \u201cIf we go through a stretch of games where we\u2019re not playing our best ball, I think we know that there\u2019s going to be stretches where we\u2019re going to play really well.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re going to have some bad luck. There\u2019s just things that kind of happen throughout the year that you can\u2019t really expect.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ginkel added there\u2019s a level of \u201ccalmness\u201d because guys like Geraldo Perdomo, Ketel Marte and Gabriel Moreno have been around for a few years now and gone through the ups and downs of the season.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe might not play our best games through a stretch, but we know it all matters about how you play at the end of the year,\u201d Ginkel said. \u201cYou saw it last year, the last three weeks, we\u2019re kind of fighting around 500. We\u2019re two, a game and a half back, and it\u2019s like, \u2018Man, we\u2019re in this.\u2019 We\u2019re playing playoff teams too and it was just incredible to watch.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t
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