Brooks Kriske #48

Brooks Joseph Kriske…graduated from Palm Desert High School (Calif.), where he earned All-State honors as a junior and senior and helped the team win two state titles in 2010 and 2012…pitched four seasons at the University of Southern California, going 4-5 with a 3.28 ERA and six saves.

2025

Pitched in four games with the Cubs and 12 with the Twins and combined to go 0-1 with a 7.50 ERA and .842 opponents OPS in a career-high 16 appearances in his fourth season in the Majors...Allowed a .278 opponents batting average but walked 15 batters in 18 innings and had a .398 on-base percentage...Surrendered just one home run...His opponents batting average broke down to .222 (8-for-36) with a .821 OPS against right-handed hitters and .333 (12-for-36) with a .862 OPS against left-handers...Opponents hit .214 with the bases empty, .318 with runners on…yielded a .345 average with runners in scoring position...Allowed 3-of-6 (50.0%) inherited runners to score…first batters faced were 3-for-12 (.250) with three walks and a sacrifice fly (.375 on-base percentage)...Did not allow a run in six day games (8.0 ip)…had a 13.50 ERA in 10 night games...Did not allow a run in the eighth inning (3.0 ip) and had a 1.35 ERA in the ninth inning…combined for a 15.12 ERA in the sixth and seventh innings...Tossed at least one inning in 14 of his 16 appearances...Spent the balance of the season with the Cubs and Twins Triple-A affiliates in Iowa (23 games) and St. Paul (three games) and was a combined 3-0 with a 3.38 ERA and .664 opponents OPS in 26 relief appearances…is now 8-0 as a Minor Leaguer over the last two seasons...Struck out 55 batters in 34.2 innings, an average of 14.28 strikeouts per nine innings…walked 11 (2.86 per nine innings) for a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 5.00...Had a .218 opponents batting average, which broke down to .177 (11-for-62) with a .672 OPS against right-handed hitters compared to .254 (18-for-71) with a .654 OPS against left-handers...His opponents average increased to .277 with runners in scoring position…three of the four home runs he surrendered came with runners on base...Allowed 9-of-17 (52.9%) inherited runners to score…first batters faced were 4-for-24 (.167) with two walks...Compiled a 7.62 ERA over innings 1-5 and a 0.83 ERA from the sixth inning on…did not allow a run in the sixth (6.0 ip), seventh (7.2 ip) or ninth (1.0 ip) innings...Opponents hit .112 with two strikes...Tossed at least one inning in 24 of his 26 appearances and had 14 outings of more than three outs.

2024

Brooks split the 2024 campaign between Triple-A Louisville in the Reds organization and Triple-A Norfolk in the Orioles organization, appearing in 50 combined games...Posted a 5-0 record with a 3.10 ERA (17 ER/49.1 IP) in 42 games for Louisville and a 5.00 ERA (5 ER/9.0 IP) in eight games for Norfolk...Was a non-roster invitee to Cincinnati's Major League Spring Training...Pitched to a 1.69 ERA (2 ER/10.2 IP) in 11 games from April 25-May 19, holding the opponent scoreless in 10 of the outings...Was claimed off waivers by Baltimore from Cincinnati Aug. 25.

2023

Was a non-roster invitee in Royals Major League Spring Training camp...Began the season at Class AA Omaha and posted a 6.00 ERA in 25 relief appearances before he was promoted on 6/18....From 6/18-6/30 made all four of his appearances for the Royals before returning to Omaha on 7/1...Made two more appearances for Omaha, on 7/5 and 7/15, before he was released on 7/22...didn't pitch again the rest of the season...On 12/14 was signed by the Reds to a Minor League contract...on 12/20 was invited to 2024 Major League Spring Training camp.

2022

Kriske appeared in 32 games with the Yokohama Bay Stars in Japan in 2022 combining to go 1-3 with two saves and a 3.25 ERA (13 ER in 36.0 IP) with 56 strikeouts 10.3 K/9) between the Central League (equivalent to MLB) and Eastern League (equivalent to MiLB)…While in the Central League with Yokohama, he posted a 2.57 ERA (6 ER in 21.0 IP) with 26 strikeouts.

2021

Began the 2021 season with the Yankees, and appeared in eight games before being claimed on waivers by Baltimore on Sept. 16...appeared in four games with the Orioles to end the season and was released Nov. 29.

2020

Posted a 14.73 ERA (3.2IP, 6ER) without recording a decision in four relief appearances over three stints with the Yankees (7/26-8/3, 8/25-30, served as the Yankees’ “29th Man” on 9/11)...Made his Major League debut on 7/29 at Baltimore, closing out the game with a scoreless ninth inning (1.0IP, 1BB, 2K)…struck out Pedro Severino (looking) for his first career strikeout…prior to his debut, had never pitched professionally above the Double-A level...Allowed 5ER in 1.1IP in Game 1 on 8/30 vs. the Mets (2H, 3BB, 4K, 1HR, 2WP)…entered with the bases loaded in the fourth inning and struck out Brandon Nimmo to strand all three inherited runners...Closed out the game with a scoreless seventh as the Yankees’ “29th Man” in Game 2 on 9/11 vs. Baltimore (1.0IP, 1BB, 2K).

2019

Combined to go 3-3 with 12 saves and a 2.08 ERA (60.2IP, 34H, 15R/14ER, 80K) in 43 relief appearances between Single-A Tampa and Double-A Trenton..opponents batted .161 (34-for-211, 3HR); LHH .206 (22-for-107), RHH .115 (12-for-104)..his 12 saves between Tampa and Trenton were a career-high..his 11 saves with Trenton ranked 10th among Eastern League pitchers...Started the year with Tampa, going 1-1 and allowing just one unearned run in seven relief appearances (12.0IP, 4H, 5BB, 16K)..limited Florida State League hitters to a .111 average (4-for-36, 0HR)..allowed 1H-or-fewer and recorded 1K-or-more in each of his seven outings with Tampa, including five outings in which he registered multiple strikeouts..named a Florida State League Midseason All-Star...Was promoted to Double-A Trenton on 4/27 and went 2-2 with 11 saves and a 2.59 ERA (48.2IP, 30H, 14ER, 23BB, 64K) in 36 relief appearances..went 1-1 with a 0.79 ERA (11.1IP, 3H, 1ER, 7BB, 17K, 0HR) while limiting opposing batters to a .081 average (3-for-37) over nine games in June.

2018

Made his return to pitching after missing the entire 2017 season to recover from Tommy John surgery, making his first appearance with short-season Single-A Staten Island on 6/18 at Lowell..combined to go 2-2 with three saves and a 1.57 ERA (28.2IP, 5ER, 39K) in 16 relief appearances between Staten Island and Single-A Charleston...In 14 games with Staten Island to begin the season, went 2-2 with three saves and a 1.09 ERA (24.2IP, 3ER, 33K)..did not allow an earned run in 11 of his 14 outings with Staten Island and never allowed more than one earned run..tossed 2.1 scoreless innings and struck out a career-high six batters in a relief outing on 8/8 vs. Lowell...Earned a promotion to Charleston on 8/23..made two relief appearances with Charleston to end the season, allowing 2ER in 4.0IP (4H, 1BB, 6K).

2017

Missed entire season to recover from "Tommy John" surgery performed in 2016.

2016

Made his professional debut and spent the season with Single-A Staten Island, going 0-2 with four saves and a 2.25 ERA (16.0IP, 4ER, 16K) in 13 relief outings..allowed one XBH all season (double by Jonathan Popadics on 7/4 vs. Hudson Valley)...Underwent "Tommy John" surgery in August and missed the remainder of the season.