Karl Gélinas

Karl Garrett Gélinas

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 4", Weight 212 lb.
• School Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College
• High School Polyvalente Edouard-Montpetit

• Born August 6, 1983 in Laval, QC CAN

BR Register page

Biographical Information

Karl Gélinas made it to AAA despite being a 47th-round draft pick. He has led an independent league in all three pitching Triple Crown categories, but in different seasons. His father Marc Gélinas played in the minors and his brother Eric Gélinas has played in the NHL. He is a skilled hockey player himself, a powerful defenseman who was one of the mainstays of the Quebec City team on the 2010 reality television show La Série Quebec-Montreal, which followed two pick-up teams of amateur hockey players representing Quebec's two main cities.

The Anaheim Angels took him in the 47th round of the 2002 amateur draft, one round before Bobby Wilson, as a draft-and-follow. In his pro debut, he was 0-4 with a 6.04 ERA for the 2003 AZL Angels. He improved to 3-3, 5.44 for the Provo Angels despite giving up 69 hits in 43 innings; he only walked nine. In 2005, he made further strides, going 11-8 with a 3.81 ERA for the Cedar Rapids Kernels (only walking 20 in 151 IP) and making three appearances for the AAA Salt Lake Stingers (1-0, 1 R in 5 IP). He tied Ross Ohlendorf and A.J. Shappi for 6th in the Midwest League in wins. Among A's minor leaguers, only Daniel Davidson had more wins (13).

He struggled in 2006 with the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes (3-8, 5.66) and Salt Lake (2 R in 5 IP). The Angels let him go at season's end and he was picked up by the Capitales de Québec. He was 4-4 with a 1.91 ERA in 2007, walking only 8 in 61 1/3 IP. He fell to 2-1, 4.62 in limited action in 2008 and had a 4-2, 4.43 record in 2009. In 2010, the veteran rebounded to 4-3, 3.07. He was second in the Canadian-American Association in ERA behind former major leaguer Mike Smith. He was 8-6 with a 3.49 ERA for Les Capitales in 2011, walking only 19 in 105 2/3 IP. He tied for 9th in wins.

Karl was 9-4 with a 2.66 ERA in 2012, with 101 K to 16 BB in 132 IP. He was 7th in the CAA in victories, second in ERA (.56 behind Jeff Duda) and 5th in strikeouts (between Pat Moran and Mike Ness). In '13, he helped Quebec win their fifth straight title, going 10-4 with a 2.98 ERA. He led the CAA in wins, was 5th with 80 strikeouts (between Bobby Blevins and David Dinelli) and 3rd in ERA (trailing Jeff Shields and Alex Burkard).

In 2014, he slipped a bit to 8-6, 3.48 but still was 5th in ERA (between Stephen Harrold and Richard Salazar), tied Sean Bierman and Gabe Perez for 6th in wins and led with 123 whiffs (8 ahead of Mike Antonini). He coached for the French national team in the 2014 European Championship; France was managed by former MLB All-Star Eric Gagné, who had gone to the same high school as Gélinas and had been his teammate with Les Capitales. Gagné relied heavily on Quebec natives in forming his coaching staff for Team France. Back with Les Capitales for 2015, he had perhaps his best year yet at age 31, going 10-3 with a 2.11 ERA and only 13 BB in 111 IP. He had nearly as many hit batters (10) as he issued walks. He tied Wilmer Font and John Walter for 4th in the CAA in wins, led in ERA (.79 over Perez), was 9th with 88 strikeouts (between Mark Hardy and Andrew Werner) and tied for the lead with two shutouts. He was named the league's All-Star starting pitcher. He was also seeing some work at the plate for the first time, going 5 for 15 with two doubles, a triple and a walk from 2010-2015.

He coached for France again in the 2017 World Baseball Classic Qualifiers (held in March 2016), when they upset 2013 World Baseball Classic entry Spain. He then returned to the Capitales, where he was a player-coach. In 2022, he began working as an analyst on baseball telecasts on TVA Sports, including for postseason games. His uniform number, 34, was retired by the Québec Capitales in 2024.