Jeff Kunkel Jr.

Jeffrey Richard Kunkel

• Bats Both, Throws Right
• Height 5' 11", Weight 180 lbs.
• School University of Michigan
• High School Oak Forest High School

• Born March 11, 1983 in Olympia Fields, IL USA

BR Minors page

Biographical Information

Jeff Kunkel is a catcher who played college ball at the University of Michigan. He graduated in 2006 with a degree in sports management and communication. The Detroit Tigers drafted Kunkel in the 37th round of the MLB 2005 amateur draft. Kunkel played in the Tiger's minor league system for six years, reaching as high as AAA. Overall, Kunkel hit .224/.281/.299 while appearing in 320 games, almost all of them at catcher.

During spring training in 2012, the Tigers offered Kunkel a chance to be their bullpen catcher and he accepted. Kunkel remained a bullpen catcher through the 2015 season. He then transitioned into scouting as a Tiger's area scout from 2016-2019.

Kunkel joined the Baltimore Orioles organization in 2020 as the fundamentals coach for the Delmarva Shorebirds before the minor league season was cancelled due to COVID-19. In 2021 Kunkel served as the fundamentals coach for the Bowie Baysox. The Orioles promoted him in 2022 to Coordinator of Instruction, a role he repeated in 2023. In 2024, Kunkel held the position of Minor League Field Coordinator in the Orioles player development system.

Kunkel's father Jeff Kunkel and grandfather Bill Kunkel both played in the major leagues.