Two former Liberal Bee Jays have been called up to the big leagues in the past 10 days. After 2014 BJ Robert Dugger made his MLB debut for the Miami Marlins on August 5, a 2015 BJ Joel Kuhnel got the call from the Cincinnatti Reds on Thursday.
Joel Kuhnel is now a 24-year-old right hander and was called up from Class AAA Louisville Thursday. Kuhnel is now 6’5″ 250 pounds. He began the season at Class AA Chattanooga and was 3-2 with a 2.27 ERA in 17 appearances over 35.2 innings. He was promoted mid-season to Class AAA Louisville and was 2-1 with a 2.00 ERA in 16 appearances covering 18 innings. He was and 11th round draft pick out of Texas-Arlington in 2016.
In 2015 he pitched for the Bee Jays. Kuhnel was 2-0 with three saves and did not allow an earned run for the 36-19 Bee Jays who finished third at the NBC World Series. The righty from UTA and Peoria, Arizona struck out 20 and walked two while appearing in nine games for Liberal. He was cl0cked at 96 miles per hour in the 2015 NBC World Series.
