Jakob Benjamin Lee Junis (born September 16, 1992) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the San Francisco Giants of Major League Baseball (MLB). He was drafted by the

Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team was founded as an expans ...

in the 29th round of the

2011 Major League Baseball draft The 2011 Major League Baseball draft was held from June 6 through June 8, 2011, from Studio 42 of the MLB Network in Secaucus, New Jersey. The Pittsburgh Pirates selected Gerrit Cole out of the University of California, Los Angeles, with the first ...

, and made his MLB debut with them in 2017.

Amateur career

Junis attended

Rock Falls High School Rock Falls Township High School, better known as Rock Falls High School and its initialism RFHS, is a four-year public high school located on the left bank of the Rock_River_(Mississippi_River_tributary), Rock River in Rock Falls, Illinois. Three a ...

in Rock Falls, Illinois, and graduated in 2011. There, he earned all-state honors in both baseball and basketball. As a senior, in basketball he averaged 19 points a game. In baseball he threw an 88-92 mph fastball and had a 1.10 ERA and 93

strikeout In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It usually means that the batter is out. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters, and is deno ...

s as a pitcher, while batting .485 with 54

RBI RBI most often refers to: *Reserve Bank of India *Run batted in RBI may also refer to: Organisations *Radio Berlin International *Raiffeisen Bank International *Reed Business Information *Restaurant Brands International *Ruđer Bošković In ...

s. The

selected Junis in the 29th round of the

. He had committed to play college baseball at

North Carolina State University North Carolina State University (NC State) is a public land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina. Founded in 1887 and part of the University of North Carolina system, it is the largest university in the Carolinas. The universit ...

as an

infielder An infielder is a baseball player stationed at one of four defensive "infield" positions on the baseball field. Standard arrangement of positions In a game of baseball, two teams of nine players take turns playing offensive and defensive roles. ...

and a pitcher, and though he was rated as a fourth round pick he fell to the 29th round because of his scholarship to North Carolina State. But he signed with the Royals for a $675,000

signing bonus A signing bonus or sign-on bonus is a sum of money paid to a new employee (including a professional sports person) by a company as an incentive to join that company. They are often given as a way of making a compensation package more attractive ...

instead of attending college.

Professional career

Kansas City Royals

Junis made his professional debut in 2012 with the Burlington Royals with whom he went 2–2 with a 4.15 ERA in seven games (six starts). He pitched in 2013 with the Idaho Falls Chukars, posted a 2–6 record and 7.39 ERA in 13 starts, and was 8th in the Pioneer League with 55 strikeouts. In 2014 he played with the Lexington Legends, and had a 9–8 record and 4.30 ERA with 10 hit batsmen (5th in the South Atlantic League) and a

WHIP A whip is a tool or weapon designed to strike humans or other animals to exert control through pain compliance or fear of pain. They can also be used without inflicting pain, for audiovisual cues, such as in equestrianism. They are generally e ...

of 1.28 (10th in the league) in 26 games (22 starts). Junis pitched for the Wilmington Blue Rocks (with whom he was 2nd in the Carolina League with 123 strikeouts, and third in WHIP (1.12)) and Northwest Arkansas Naturals in 2015, where he compiled a combined 5–12 record and 3.78 ERA in 27 starts. He started 2016 with Northwest Arkansas, for whom he was 9-7 with a 3.25 ERA (3rd in the Texas League) and 117 strikeouts (6th in the league) in 21 starts, was 4th in the league in WHIP (1.15), and was a Texas League Mid-Season All Star and Post-Season All Star. In August he was promoted to the Omaha Storm Chasers, with whom he had six starts. In 27 combined starts between Northwest Arkansas and Omaha he was 10–10 with a 4.05 ERA, and 143 strikeouts and 34 walks in 149 innings, as he generally threw a fastball in the low-90s and occasionally slightly higher, a change-up, and a

curveball In baseball and softball, the curveball is a type of pitch thrown with a characteristic grip and hand movement that imparts forward spin to the ball, causing it to dive as it approaches the plate. Varieties of curveball include the 12–6 curve ...

. He was named an MiLB.com Organization All Star. The Royals added him to their 40-man roster after the 2016 season. Junis made his MLB debut on April 12, 2017. After his debut, he was recalled and optioned a number of times before he was called up to Kansas City for the remainder of the season on August 14. In 12 starts for Omaha he was 3–5 with a 2.92 ERA, in 20 games (16 starts). For Kansas City, he compiled a 9–3 record and 4.30 ERA, as his 9 hit batsmen were 10th-most in the league. Junis began 2018 in Kansas City's starting rotation. He finished the season with a 9–12 record, a

complete game In baseball, a complete game (CG) is the act of a pitcher pitching an entire game without the benefit of a relief pitcher. A pitcher who meets this criterion will be credited with a complete game regardless of the number of innings played—pitche ...

, and a 4.37 ERA in 30 starts, and was 3rd in the AL in hit batsmen (15; a team record), 8th in walks per 9 innings (2.186), and 10th in strikeouts/walk (3.814) and wild pitches (9). In 2019 for the Royals, Junis pitched to a 5.24 ERA with a 8.4 K/9 and 3.0 BB/9 in 175 1/3 innings across 31 starts, and was 6th in the AL with 11 hit batsmen. He became the first pitcher in the major leagues to win at least nine games in each of his first three seasons since Masahiro Tanaka (2014–16); the last pitcher younger than Junis to do that was Gerrit Cole (2013–15). With the 2020 Kansas City Royals, Junis appeared in eight games (six starts). He compiled an 0-2 record with a 6.39 ERA and 6 walks and 19 strikeouts in 25.1 innings pitched. He was on the injured list twice. Junis made 16 appearances (six starts) for the Royals in 2021, posting a 5.26 ERA with 41 strikeouts in 39.1 innings of work, and was on the injured list twice. His salary was $1.7 million. On November 5, 2021, Junis was outrighted off of the 40-man roster, but rejected the outright assignment and elected free agency.

San Francisco Giants

On March 14, 2022, Junis signed a one-year $1.75 million deal with the San Francisco Giants. In 2022 with the Giants he was 5-7 with a 4.42 ERA in 112 innings, as in 23 games (17 starts) he walked 25 batters and had 98 strikeouts. In 15.1 innings in the minor leagues, he pitched 11.1 innings, giving up 11 earned runs.

Personal

Junis and his wife, Brianne, have three children together. They reside in Scottsdale, Arizona.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Junis, Jakob 1992 births Living people People from Rock Falls, Illinois Baseball players from Illinois Major League Baseball pitchers Kansas City Royals players San Francisco Giants players Burlington Royals players Idaho Falls Chukars players Lexington Legends players Wilmington Blue Rocks players Northwest Arkansas Naturals players Omaha Storm Chasers players Sacramento River Cats players