Naperville Central graduate Kyle Kaminska was named the South Atlantic Leauge co-Pitcher of the Week on May 26. In his first start since that honor, Kaminska allowed runs in each of his first four innings and gave up back-to-back homers in the third inning.
Going into his fifth start for the Florida Marlins Class A affiliate, Kaminiska had a streak of 11 scoreless innings and had gone 22 innings without giving up a home run.
"He's a young kid, and he's all about confidence," said Greensboro manager Edwin Rodriguez. "He lost his confidence right away after those two home runs. You could see it on his face. But then again, he's learning. His two previous outings were strong. It sounds funny, but he throws too many strikes. He's 0-2 in the count, he's got to throw a bad pitch. I think those two home runs were when he was ahead in the count."
Picked in the 25th round last June, Kaminska left a scholarship at Michigan State for a six-figure bonus. Baseball Prospectus labeled the 6-foot-4 right-hander as "The Sleeper" in the Marlins organization heading into spring training.
At the end of spring training Kaminska was still looking for a spot on a rotation.
The Marlins' 25th-round pick out of Naperville Central High School (Ill.) in 2007, Kaminska went 1-1 with a 2.84 ERA in five games -- including four starts -- for the Rookie-level Marlins of the Gulf Coast last season but found himself without a roster spot at the end of Spring Training this year. It didn't take long before opportunity came knocking.
"I didn't make a full season team out of Spring Training, but I made a spot start for Jupiter the first week of the season and another one a few weeks later," he said. "It's my first full year so I'm trying to learn as much as I can."
...
"I kinda got thrown out into the real world for the first time, so it's just been a matter of adjusting to the lifestyle and living off a paycheck," he said. "It was by far the right decision though. I wouldn't turn this down for anything, though."
Leave a comment