University of Albany's Kubiak Signs With New York Yankess - UAlbany Sports 2016

ALBANY, N.Y.— Former UAlbany baseball player, David Kubiak ’11, has officially been signed by the New York Yankees, after playing independent league baseball for four years. Kubiak will report to Double-A Trenton Thunder on Friday. “To be honest, I don’t want to make a big deal out of it because the work is not done yet.” Said Kubiak “It’s a step in the right direction and exciting, but it just means I’m doing my job. I’m pumped it’s the Yankees being a New York kid and having my whole family be Yankee fans is awesome.” Kubiak, out of Riverhead, N.Y., last played at UAlbany in 2011, a year where he was selected by the Tampa Bays Rays in the Major League Baseball Draft in the 36th round. UAlbany baseball head coach Jon Mueller on his former pitcher, “David is a fierce competitor and it would not surprise me one bit if he makes it to the bigs. He was a weekend starter from day one and was one of the biggest competitors I have ever met.” In his senior season, Kubiak started 14 games, putting together a 6-7 record with a 4.72 ERA and threw five complete games and one shutout in 82.0 innings of work. He finished is four-year career as the UAlbany program leader with 227 strikeouts and 278 innings pitched. His 82 innings his senior season was good for second on the single-season record board. “Give some credit to Mules and Pearce for sticking with a kid who didn’t work as hard as he could have in college but always told me never give up on something you love.” said Kubiak “It’s been a long road so far but it’s just starting to get fun.” Kubiak started off with the Princeton Rays and GCL Rays of Rookie League within the Tampa Bay Rays organization. Here, he we went 2-2 with a 3.20 ERA in 15 appearances, including three saves when playing with Princeton. The following year, Kubiak entered independent league with the Evansville Otters of the Frontier League, where he pitched in 19 games and finished with a 1-1 record and a 3.90 ERA. In 2014, he played a short stint with the Southern Illinois Miners, going 4-1 with a 1.47 ERA in 13 appearances and was traded to the Joliet Slammers, finishing with a 3-1 record and a 1.51 ERA in 20 games. Kubiak played his final season with the Slammers in the summer of 2015, going 7-6 with a 2.16 ERA and a career high of 92 strikeouts. “David Kubiak has proven to be an extremely reliable reliever for us. We’re glad he was able to take this opportunity to pitch for the Bridgeport Bluefish in the Atlantic League and catapult himself into a very promising position with the New York Yankees. It was a pleasure to watch him pitch here and we wish him the best of luck going forward,” stated Paul Herman, Senior Director of Baseball Operations & Public Relations of the Bridgeport Bluefish. This past year he played for the Bridgeport Bluefish of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball. Before getting signed to the Yankees, Kubiak went 1-1 with a 3.17 ERA in five appearances out of the bullpen. “It’s just proof that all you have to do is put in the work and let the universe know what you want.” added Kubiak “Anyone can do this, not just me, it’s just what you’re willing to sacrifice to get it done that separates people from succeeding and not.” Kubiak reports to Trenton on Friday as the take on the Harrisburg Senators, starting at 7 p.m. Kubiak is likely to come out of the bullpen as a middle relief pitcher. The game can be seen on MiLB.TV and will take place at Trenton’s home field at ARM & HAMMER Park.