James Kaprielian

James Douglas Kaprielian

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 4", Height 200 lb.
• School University of California, Los Angeles
• High School Beckman High School
• Debut August 16, 2020

• Born March 2, 1994 in Laguna Hills, CA USA

BR page

Biographical Information

Pitcher James Kaprielian was the top selection of the New York Yankees in the 2015 amateur draft, with the 16th pick of the 1st round, out of UCLA. He had also been drafted out of high school, in the 40th round in 2012 by the Seattle Mariners, but had preferred to go to college.

Kaprielian made his professional debut with the GCL Yankees 2 in 2015, giving up 4 runs in 2 1/3 innings just to get his feet wet, then he was sent to the Staten Island Yankees of the New York-Penn League. In 3 starts there, he was 0-1, but gave up only 2 runs in 9 innings as the Yankees did not want him to pitch too much following a full college season. In spite of his limited playing time, Baseball America named him the Yankees' #4 prospect after the season and he was considered to be on a fast track to the majors. In 2016, he made three appearances with the Tampa Yankees of the Florida State League, going 2-1, 1.50, before being put on the shelf by a strained flexor tendon. He was recovered in time to pitch in the Arizona Fall League in the fall, where he made 7 starts and pitched 27 innings, but his career was derailed again in 2017, as he had to undergo Tommy John surgery in April. While recovering from the surgery, he was traded to the Oakland Athletics on July 31st alongside two other prospect in return for P Sonny Gray. Ironically, another of the prospects sent to Oakland, OF Dustin Fowler, was also recovering from a season-ending injury at the time.

He returned to the mound in 2019, having missed two full seasons, but then had to wait a couple of months while recovering from a strained lat muscle. He pitched in Single A, Double A and Triple A that year, reaching the latter two levels for the first time of his professional career. Overall, he made 16 starts in 19 appearances, finishing at 4-3, 3.18. He improved as the season advanced and as he was promoted, his highest ERA coming at the lowest level, with the Stockton Ports of the California League. He was on a strict innings limit, pitching just 68 innings, but his K/W ratio of 75/16 was very encouraging. He really would have benefitted from another full season in the minors in 2020 to continue to build up his strength, but the global coronavirus pandemic put a stop to that by cancelling the minor league season. Instead, he was at the A's alternate training site to start the year and got to make his major league debut in mid-August. He pitched just twice in the bigs, with no decisions and 3 runs allowed in 3 2/3 innings.

In 2021, he was assigned to the AAA Las Vegas Aviators when the minor league season began in May and made just one start before he was called up to Oakland to start a game on May 12th. With his father cheering him from the stands at Fenway Park after making the trip across the country, he put up a solid effort facing the Boston Red Sox, allowing just 1 run on 4 hits in 5 innings while striking out 6 to earn credit for his team's 4-1 victory.

As is last name indicates, Kaprielian comes from California's large Armenian-American community.

Further Reading

• Barry M Bloom: "Sidelined prospect Kaprielian visits Yanks: Righty on path back to diamond after Tommy John Surgery", mlb.com, June 13, 2017. [1]
• Martin Gallegos: "Kaprielian's dad wears his heart on his sleeve", mlb.com, May 13, 2021. [2]
• Michael Kolligian: "Yanks' Kaprielian proud of Armenian heritage: Club's first-round pick in '15 is also its No. 4 prospect", mlb.com, February 28, 2016. [3]

Related Sites

• James Kaprielian on mlb.com
• BR Minors page