Jakob Benjamin Lee Junis…he and wife, Brianne, have a daughter, two sons and make their offseason home in Scottsdale, Ariz…graduated from Rock Falls (Ill.) H.S., where he also played basketball… earned all-state honors in both baseball and basketball as a senior, posting a 1.10 ERA and 93 SO on the mound while hitting .485 with 54 RBI…competed in baseball tournaments in Japan and Puerto Rico with high school All-Star teams during his prep days…had committed to play baseball at NC State Univ. prior to being drafted by Kansas City in the 29th round of the 2011 MLB Draft…was born in Jacksonville, Ark., which is a suburb of the capital city of Little Rock and is named after Nicholas Jackson, a landowner who deeded the land for the railroad right-of-way to the Cairo & Fulton Railroad in 1870…brother, Noah, is a bullpen coach for Triple-A Worcester of the Boston organization…Noah helped Jakob with his workouts and pitching mechanics during the 2020-21 offseason.
2025
After signing a one-year pact with Cleveland prior to the season, Junis compiled a career-high 57 games, 4-1 record, 2.97 ERA (22 ER/66.2 IP), 3.45 FIP and 1.23 WHIP, pitching exclusively in relief for the Guardians…remained on CLE’s active roster for the entirety of the season...ranked among Guardians relief leaders in innings (tied-second), games (fourth), strikeouts (fourth, 55), and wins (fifth)…his career-best 0.68 home runs per 9.0 ratio (5 HR/66.2 IP) ranked 10th among A.L. relievers (min. 65 IP), and he limited left-handed batters to a .237 (23-97) average and .669 OPS…made his season debut in CLE’s second game of the season, a 4-3 loss at KC (1.0 IP, 1 H, 1 SO)…did not permit a run over his first nine games of the season, tallying 8.2 SHO IP (8 H, 1 BB, 7 SO)…allowed 1+ ER in 10 of his next 16 games through 6/5 (15 ER in 19.2 IP, 6.86 ERA), spiking his season mark to 4.76…was one of the A.L.’s premier relievers from 6/7-end of season, allowing an ER in just six of his final 32 G to finish the campaign (3-0, 1.64 ERA, 7 ER/38.1 IP, 0.99 WHIP, 10 BB/34 SO)…A.L. reliever ranks in season-ending span: ERA (seventh), pitches per inning (eighth, 14.5), HR/9 (ninth, 0.47)…from 7/1-8/3, tossed a season-high 11 consecutive scoreless innings, the T4th-longest streak of his career…joined LAA’s Kenley Jansen and BOS’ Brennan Bernardino as the only A.L. pitchers to toss 9+ IP without allowing an earned run in the month of July… made two appearances vs. TEX: 8/24 at Globe Life Field (1.1 IP, 0 ER) and 9/26 at Progressive Field (0.1 IP, 2 ER)…whiffed a season-high four batters in 2.0 SHO IP on 9/19 at MIN…threw 20+ pitches in 26 outings in ’25, tied-third-most among A.L. relievers (33-CWS’ M. Vasil, 28-ATH’s J. Sterner, 26-Junis/BOS-ATH’s S. Newcomb/ TOR’s Y. Rodríguez)…averaged 1.17 innings per game, the second-most IP/G among A.L. relievers to only TEX’s Jacob Webb (1.20)…was stingy with runners in scoring position and two outs, limiting opponents to a .172 BA (5-for-29) in those situations… also held the opposition to a 1-for-13 (.077) clip with the bases loaded…in ‘close and late’ scenarios, batters slashed just .190/.261/.222/.483 (12-for-63)…the right-hander most frequently entered in seventh or eighth inning (35 of 57 games), but made at least one appearance entering every inning from 4-9, as well as two games in which he entered in extras…was more frequently deployed into a deficit (34 games), than a tie (eight games) or lead (15 games)…most commonly entered with the Guardians trailing by two runs (11 games)…pitched on zero days’ rest eight times (0-1, 3.60 ERA)…when appearing on 3+ days of rest (22 games), turned in a 1.91 ERA (six ER/28.1 IP) with five BB/23 SO…averaged 15.1 seconds in between pitches with runners on base (second-quickest tempo among MLB qualifiers) and 11.9 seconds with the bases empty (T-second-quickest).
2024
Split season between Milwaukee and Cincinnati, spending two and a half months on the IL (R shoulder impingement) following his first start as a Brewer on April 2 vs. Minnesota (1ER/4.0IP)...Following June 22 activation, he made nine relief appearances (2.45 ERA, 6ER/22.0IP)...On July 30, was acquired by the Reds along with OF Joey Wiemer & cash considerations in exchange for RHP Frankie Montas...Posted a 1.44 ERA in five starts for the Reds (4ER/25.0IP/10H/20K/.120avg), the last of which came in Cleveland on Sept. 25 (5.0IP, 4H, 2ER)...Posted a nine-inning scoreless streak, Sept. 1-9...On Aug. 27 vs. Oakland, made his first start with the Reds, pitching 4.0 perfect innings...Was the longest perfect bid by a Reds pitcher at Great American Ball Park since Matt Harvey (also 4IP) in 2018...He and Buck Farmer (0.1IP) turned in the longest combined perfect bid by the Reds since 10/2/1990 vs. Houston (5.1IP; Jack Armstrong, Scott Scudder, Norm Charlton, Rick Mahler) courtesy Elias...On Sept. 18 vs. Atlanta, had a season-high 6 strikeouts, his most since 8/15/23 for SF vs. TB (7K)...In that start threw 70 pitches in 6.0 innings, becoming the first Red to throw six innings on 70 pitches-or-fewer since Bronson Arroyo (66p) on 4/23/17 vs. the Cubs...Issued two BB through his first five starts with the Reds, tied with Tony Freitas (1934) and Brian Moehler (2002) for fewest by a Red in that span (excl. openers) since 1893 (Elias).
2023
Went 4-3 with a 3.87 ERA and one save in 40 games (four starts) with San Francisco...Struck out 96 batters in 86.0 innings...Did not allow an earned run in any of his 4 starts (12.2ip, 5h, 2r, 2bb, 14k) as the team went 3-1 in those outings...posted a 4.54 ERA as a reliever (73.1ip, 37er)...Threw at least 2.0 innings in 20 of his 36 relief appearances...Retired 24 of 36 first batters faced (66.7%)...Stranded 10 of 21 inherited runners (47.6%)...Notched the first save of his professional career in a 7-5 win on 6/16 at Los Angeles-NL...Was on the 15-day injured list from 9/24 through the remainder of the season with a cervical strain...Signed as a free agent with Milwaukee on 2/7/24.
2022
Wrapped up his sixth MLB season and first in a Giants uniform...appeared in 23 games (17 starts) for SF, going 5-7 with a 4.42 ERA (55er, 112.0ip)…Started the year with Triple-A Sacramento and made three starts for the River Cats, going 0-1 with nine strikeouts while allowing 11 runs over 11.1 innings (8.74 ERA)…Worked primarily as a starter for SF, posting a 3-5 record with a 4.82 (45er, 84.0ip) and 71 strikeouts over 17 games in that role...his 17 starts in 2022 were his most since making a career-high 31 starts in 2019...Was also used as a bulk innings relief pitcher, making six appearances out of the bullpen and averaging 4.2 innings per outing...overall, went 2-2 with a 3.21 ERA (10er, 28.0ip), .257 opposing average and 27 strikeouts as a reliever...Over his final 11 appearances, Junis went 1-5 with a 6.20 ERA and .313 opposing average...the stretch came after he had posted a 4-2 record with a 2.78 ERA and .224 opposing average in the 12 outings prior...Used his slider 50.4% of the time with opponents hitting .226 off the pitch with 74 strikeouts. Also relied on his sinker considerably more in 2022, using the pitch 32.0% of the time compared to his 4.1% mark in 2021...Started 2022 off by throwing back-to-back scoreless relief appearances of 5.0 innings of work on April 22 at Washington and April 27 vs. Oakland...the last Giants pitcher to throw 5.0+ shutout innings in back-to-back relief appearances was Mike McCormick on Aug. 23, 1968 and Sept. 10, 1968...Started his Giants career with 11.0 straight scoreless innings over three appearances before allowing a two-run HR to Juan Yepez of the Cardinals on May 8.
2021
Made his third Opening Day roster in the last four years but only pitched 39.1 innings with Kansas City in 2021...Was with the Royals for the first 56 games of the year before being optioned to Triple-A Omaha...After four starts with Omaha, he went on their injured list on July 9 and missed just over a month, being reinstated on Aug. 19...Recalled to Kansas City on Aug. 31 but then went on the IL the following day with a right shoulder impingement...did not pitch the rest of the season...Only six of his 16 appearances with KC in 2021 were as a starter after starting 83 of his prior 89 appearances with KC from 2017-20...Was 1-3 with a 4.61 ERA (14er, 27.1ip) in six starts and 1-1 with a 6.75 ERA (9er, 12.0ip) in his 10 relief outings...Right-handed batters posted a .261/.297/420 slash line off him in 2021 while lefties were .294/.351.494.
2020
Made eight appearances, including six starts…opened the season on the injured list (July 19-Aug. 2), and made his season debut in the club’s 10th game…had a second stint on the IL (Aug. 16-25) and was optioned on Sept. 15, before being recalled on Sept. 23...Became the first Royals pitcher to start at least six games and not earn a win since Gil Meche (9 starts) in 2010...Allowed exactly two runs in each of his first four starts, in which he recorded 4.1, 4.2, 3.2 and 4.0 innings… became the first pitcher to surrender exactly two runs each of his first four starts since Boston’s Tim Wakefield in 2004...Yielded five runs on seven hits in each of his final two starts – Sept. 8 at Cleveland and Sept. 15 at Detroit...Made his final two appearances out of the bullpen, a pair of scoreless 1.0-inning outings – Sept. 23 vs. St. Louis and Sept. 25 vs. Detroit…marked his first relief outings since Aug. 18, 2017, snapping a streak of 75 consecutive outings as a starter...Struck out the side in his Sept. 23 appearance for just the fifth time in his career and first since July 20, 2019 at Cleveland (5th inning)...Issued just one walk to the final 66 batters he faced, over his final five-plus outings, including a streak of 46 batters faced without a walk…permitted just six walks in 25.1 innings for the season, marking a career-best 2.1 BB/9 rate, which led all KC hurlers that pitched at least 10.0 innings...Held opponents to a .227 average (5-for-22) with runners in scoring position, which just two of those hits going for extra-bases (.409 SLG)…he’s allowed no more than one hit with RISP in 20 of his last 26 outings, dating back to June 11, 2019, a stretch in which opponents have hit .238 (24-for-101) with a .366 slugging percentage (7 extra-base hits).
2019
Made a career-high 31 starts and matched a career high with 164 strikeouts (also 2018), despite not pitching in KC's last 12 games of the season (last start was Sept. 15) ... Won nine games for the third consecutive season, becoming just the fourth Royal to reach at least nine wins in each of his first three seasons in the Majors, joining Mark Gubicza (1984-86), Rich Gale (1978-80) and Dick Drago (1969-71) ... He's the first pitcher in the Majors to win at least nine games in each of his first three seasons since Masahiro Tanaka from 2014-16…the last pitcher younger than Junis to do it was Gerrit Cole from 2013-15 ... Surrendered 31 home runs in 31 starts, tied for the sixth most in the American League, and one shy of his career high of 32 set in 2018 ... He's the fourth Royals pitcher to record at least an 8.0 K/9 (min. 162.0 IP) in consecutive seasons, joining Zack Greinke (2008-09), Kevin Appier (1994-96) and Tom Gordon (1989-90) ... He's one of five qualifying pitchers in the American League with a K/9 of 8.0 or better and a BB/9 of 3.0 or better in each of the last two seasons, joining Justin Verlander, Gerrit Cole, Matthew Boyd and José Berríos ... Led the Royals with 164 strikeouts, 115 of which (70.1%) came via his slider, the fourth most strikeouts on sliders in the Majors, trailing Patrick Corbin (161), Justin Verlander (127) and Matthew Boyd (118) ... Had a career-high 10 strikeouts on July 15 vs. the White Sox, all of which came on his slider…in the Statcast Era (since 2015), only three pitchers have struck out more than 10 on sliders in a game: Jon Gray (12 on Sept. 17, 2016), Francisco Liriano (11 on May 24, 2015) and Chris Archer (11 on June 2, 2015)…Junis was the first to record double-digit strikeouts on sliders in a game since Patrick Corbin on June 22, 2018 ... Allowed two earned runs or fewer in six of eight starts from June 11-July 20, a stretch in which he had a 3.61 ERA (19 ER in 47.1 IP) ... Held opponents to one hit or fewer with runners in scoring position in 22 of his 31 starts, including eight straight from April 19-May 30 ... Allowed a season-high six hits in scoring situations on June 5 vs. Boston, but held opponents to a .182 average (12-for-66) with RISP over his next 15 starts from June 11-Aug. 28, the best mark in the American League during that time ... Held opponents to 0-for-19 with eight strikeouts in scoring situations, starting on July 2 and ending with a Mike Freeman RBI single in the third inning on July 26 vs. Cleveland ... His wife, Brianne, gave birth to their third child, Jett Lloyd, on July 23.
2018
Made the Opening Day roster for the first time and set career highs in starts (30), innings (177.0) and strikeouts (164), which all led the club...Posted a 2.19 walk rate (43 BB in 177.0 IP), which ranked eighth among qualifying American League starters… enjoyed a streak of 118 consecutive batters faced without issuing a walk, from Aug. 17 to Sept. 16..Set a single-season franchise record with 15 hit batsmen, topping Jeremy Guthrie's (14) 2014 total…hit three batters in a game twice - April 9 vs. Seattle and July 2 vs. Cleveland... Surrendered 32 home runs, which were third-most in the Majors behind Baltimore's Dylan Bundy (41) and former Royal James Shields (33)…however, he allowed just six homers over his final 10 starts (61.0 IP)…allowed 22 home runs at Kauffman Stadium, setting a club record...Matched a franchise record, allowing five home runs in his April 26 start vs. the White Sox, matching Chris Young (May 9, 2016 at Yankees) and Sean O'Sullivan (May 28, 2011 at Texas)…it was the first time any pitcher has allowed five home runs in a game at Kauffman Stadium... Opponents batted .246 (120-for-488) against him the first two times through the lineup, but hit .310 off him (62-for200) after that...Became the first Royal to go 4-0 in a season vs. Detroit… posted a 1.95 ERA (8 ER in 37.0 IP) in five starts against the Tigers, which was the second-lowest season ERA by a Royal vs. Detroit, behind only Zack Greinke (1.00) in 2009, among pitchers that made at least five starts... Opened the season with 16.0-straight scoreless innings, marking the fourth-longest streak to begin a year in club history, behind only: Zack Greinke (24.0 IP) in 2009, Wade Davis (22.0 IP) in 2015 and Danny Jackson (18.0 IP) in 1985...Named Royals Pitcher of the Month for April, going 3-2 with a 3.34 ERA (12 ER in 32.1 IP) and a .181 opponents' average (21-for-116)...Over his first seven starts, was 4-2 with a 3.18 ERA (16 ER in 45.1 IP)…however, from May 28-July 2, went 0-7 with a 7.59 ERA (34 ER in 40.1 IP), dropping seven consecutive starts...After a stint on the disabled list (lower back inflammation) from July 8-21, went 4-2 with a 3.35 ERA (28 ER in 75.1 IP) after his return.
2017
Went 9-3 with a 4.30 ERA (47 ER in 98.1 IP) in 20 appearances (16 starts) as a rookie across seven Major League stints ... His nine wins were one shy of Parker Bridwell for most among American League rookies, and were most among Royals rookies since the late Yordano Ventura (14) in 2014 ... Went 3-5 with a 2.92 ERA (23 ER in 71.0 IP) in 12 starts with Omaha (AAA), earning Omaha Pitcher of the Year honors ... Went 7-3 with a 4.16 ERA (43 ER in 93.0 IP) in 16 starts with Kansas City, and 2-0 with a 6.75 ERA (4 ER in 5.1 IP) in four relief appearances…according to Elias, he's the first Royals rookie with two wins as a starter and reliever since Tom Gordon in 1989 ... Made his Major League debut on April 12 vs. Oakland…he pitched a scoreless ninth inning, recording an inning-ending double play to erase a double and two walks ... Earned his first big league win on May 9 at Tampa Bay, pitching a scoreless 11th inning ahead of Mike Moustakas' go-ahead home run in the 12th ... Matched a minor league career high with 12 strikeouts in 7.0 scoreless innings (two hits) on May 26 at Nashville, tying for the most by an Omaha pitcher since the team began play in the Pacific Coast League in 1998 ... Made his first big league start on May 21 at Minnesota (Game 1), recording 4.0 scoreless innings before allowing two runs on two hits and two walks in the fifth…exited after 4.2 innings, allowing two runs on five hits and three walks, with four strikeouts in a no-decision ... Earned his first big league win as a starter on June 11 at San Diego, holding the Padres to three runs-all solo HR-on six hits and one walk in 7.0 innings, with six strikeouts ... Named Royals Pitcher of the Month for August, going 3-0 with a 2.96 ERA (9 ER in 27.1 IP), best among American League rookies in five outings (four starts)…he's the fifth Royals rookie to go 3-0 or better in a calendar month (min. three starts), joining Kevin Appier (August 1990), Rich Gale (July and May 1978), Dennis Leonard (August 1975) and Steve Busby (September 1972) ... Became the first rookie to win Royals Pitcher of the Month honors since Louis Coleman in July 2011 and the first to do it as a starting pitcher since Brian Bannister in August 2007 ... Worked a career-high 8.0 innings in a 9-1 win on Aug. 6 vs. Seattle (Game 2), most by a Royals rookie since the late Yordano Ventura (8.1 IP) on July 4, 2014…became the seventh Royals rookie and first since Denny Bautista on April 8, 2005 to record 8.0 innings with seven strikeouts and no walks…retired his last 19 batters ... Pitched at least 6.0 innings with no walks in back-to-back starts on Aug. 6-14, becoming the first Royals rookie to do so since Luke Hochevar in June 2008 ... Recorded a career-high eight strikeouts on Aug. 29 vs. Tampa Bay and finished the month of August with 27 strikeouts and just two walks (8.89 K/BB), the best ratio in any calendar month by a rookie in 2017 ... Won five consecutive decisions over eight starts from Aug. 6-Sept. 20, going 5-0 with a 2.42 ERA (13 ER in 48.1 IP), .238 opponents' average (43-for-181), 38 strikeouts (7.08 K/9) and just five walks (0.93 BB/9)…his eight straight starts without a loss matched the second-longest streak by a Royals rookie, according to STATS, trailing only Dennis Leonard (10 straight) in 1975 ... Including his relief win on July 24 at Detroit, he won six consecutive decisions, matching the second-longest streak by a Royals rookie, one shy of Dennis Leonard (1975) and Tom Gordon (1989) ... Issued just 20 walks in 93.0 innings over 16 starts (1.94 BB/9), the fifth-best walk rate in the American League (min. 15 starts), trailing Josh Tomlin (0.89), Corey Kluber (1.59), Bartolo Colon (1.69) and Chris Sale (1.81) ... Went 3-0 with a 3.43 ERA (17 ER in 44.2 IP) in nine appearances (seven starts) at home ... The Royals went 11-5 (.688) in his 16 starts
2016
Named Northwest Arkansas (AA) Pitcher of the Year, posting the third-best ERA (3.25) in the Texas League...Pitched a flawless fourth inning at the Texas League All-Star Game in Springfield, Mo., recording a pair of strikeouts…also tabbed a postseason All-Star in the league...Ranked fourth in the Texas League in WHIP (1.15), tied for fourth in wins (9), sixth in strikeouts (117) and tied for 10th in starts (21)...Earned Texas League Pitcher of the Week honors on May 29, allowing one run on six hits over two starts (12.0 innings) during the previous week...tallied a season-high nine strikeouts in 6.0 innings vs. Arkansas in his final start with the Naturals…it was his highest strikeout total since 2013 with Idaho Falls (Rookie)...Promoted to Omaha (AAA) on Aug. 8 and finished the year with the Storm Chasers, going 1-3 with a 7.20 ERA over six starts.
2015
Ranked among Carolina League (A) leaders in 2015, leading the league in innings (155.2), second in strikeouts (123), tied for second in starts (26), third in WHIP (1.12) and fourth in opponents' average (.251).
2014
Named Lexington (A) Pitcher of the Year in 2014…finished eighth in the South Atlantic League in innings (136.0), tied for ninth in wins (9) and 10th in WHIP (1.28).
2013
Finished eighth in the Pioneer League (Rookie) in strikeouts (55) in 2013…recorded a career-best 12 strikeouts in 7.0 innings on Aug. 13 vs. Billings.
