Sehr gut! Kernels reliever Niklas Rimmel pitches in front of his parents as a pro for first time

CEDAR RAPIDS — It was just another game in a five-month season for most of the guys playing Sunday afternoon at Veterans Memorial Stadium.

A getaway day for everyone, considering Minor League Baseball shuts down for the next four days with the majors to observe an all-star break.

But for Niklas Rimmel of the Cedar Rapids Kernels, things were way different. They were special.

The relief pitcher spun a pair of perfect innings in his team’s 6-5 loss to Quad Cities. He recorded those six straight outs in front of his mom and dad.

Martin and Kerstin Rimmel are in town from Berlin, Germany, to visit their son. This was the very first time they’ve seen Niklas play professionally, proudly posing for pictures with him on the field postgame.

“Very exciting week, yeah,” Rimmel said. “Two pretty quick innings there. It was good.”

The 24-year-old right-hander signed with the parent Minnesota Twins in 2017 as an international free agent. Baseball’s not big in Germany, but Rimmel acquired an affinity for it, getting on scouts’ radars while pitching for his country in the European Baseball Championship tournament that year.

Other MLB clubs were interested in him, but Rimmel felt comfortable with the Twins, in part because they had outfielder Max Kepler in the majors with them. Kepler, in his eighth season with Minnesota, played for the Kernels in 2013.

“There were a couple of teams interested, but having Max already with the Twins was key. He was my role model honestly, even though he’s a position player,” Rimmel said. “That definitely helped my decision become a little easier.

“I communicate with (Kepler) on a pretty regular basis. Just check in with him every once in a while.”

Rimmel began his professional career in 2018, spending three seasons with the Rookie-level Florida Complex League Twins and not pitching at all in 2020 because of the COVID pandemic. He had a terrific 2022 season with low-A Fort Myers, going 4-1 with four saves and a 1.98 earned run average in 29 appearances.

He’s 3-1 with a 2.48 ERA this season for the Kernels in 21 outings.

“It definitely helped having a good year last year. Probably helped me get the ticket to start here this season,” Rimmel said. “I’m just trying to keep it rolling, taking it day to day and just trying to make progress from here.”

Rimmel has gained about 20 pounds since first signing and checks in at 6-foot-3 and about 225 pounds. He has increased his fastball velocity from the high-80s to low-90s and also throws a changeup, slider and splitter.

That last pitch is new, as in brand new, one he just began throwing a couple of weeks ago.

“Had a talk with my pitching coaches, and sometimes my changeup, batters tend to pick it up a little early out of my hand,” he said. “So I think the splitter is a great addition, just something a little bit harder and tougher to distinguish from my fastball.”

The Kernels (49-32 overall, 9-6 in Midwest League’s second half) lost their second straight game to Q.C. but still won four of six in the series. Noah Miller went 2-for-4 with a home run and four RBIs for Cedar Rapids, with Kala’i Rosario and Jorel Ortega also posting two hits each.

The Kernels rev things back up Friday at Beloit.

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