D-backs Pitcher Kevin Ginkel is Back, And He Has a New Pitch

Arizona Diamondbacks righty reliever Kevin Ginkel has always been an escape artist. Even in his more elite seasons, he made his living wriggling out of jams for the D-backs.

So it brought a familiarly warm feeling to mind watching the big right-hander give up back-to-back hits to lead off his first inning of spring training — only to bear down and strand them with a pair of strikeouts. That is who he's always been.

“It was nice to get into a situation like that,” Ginkel told AZCentral's Nick Piecoro, “and find a way to get out of it unscathed.”

But not only did the righty regain his normal form, he also threw a new pitch for the first time — a splitter.

Arizona Diamondbacks' Kevin Ginkel Debuts New Pitch

Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Kevin Ginkel (37) during spring training workouts on Feb. 10, 2026, at Salt River Fields in Scottsdale. | Rob Schumacher/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Ginkel has primarily been a two-pitch arm. A four-seam fastball and a slider always got the job done in the past. He got four whiffs on that slider in his debut, but also decided to try out the splitter as a new secondary offering.

“Just giving them another offspeed pitch to kind of debate what could be coming, instead of the slider every time,” Ginkel said. He also noted he's looking to land more sliders for strikes, giving his opponents less room to lay off.

He only threw one splitter, and it was picked up erroneously by Statcast as a slider, but Ginkel told Piecoro he was happy with the shape.

2026 is going to be an important season for the right-hander. His ERA in 2025 was a brutal 7.36, punctuated by a pair of shoulder injuries. But beneath that lied a 3.64 FIP, and a team-low IS% (inherited runners scored percentage) of 14%.

Frequently it felt as if he was getting unlucky on batted balls this past season. His 10.17 strikeouts per nine certainly was not a step back. He did, however, walk 13 in just 25.2 innings, after walking 15 in 70 frames the year prior.

"I remember having conversations with our pitching staff and I was like, I feel like I'm pitching way better than what my numbers say," he told Diamondbacks On SI's Jack Sommers at the advent of 2026 camp.

If Ginkel is able to remain healthy and live in the zone a little more — perhaps with the aid of a new secondary pitch in the splitter — he's undeniably a bounce-back candidate. He's currently in the mix for the vacant closer's role this spring, and is one of just three arms in camp with significant leverage experience as a member of the D-backs.