Who Is Lance Pendleton ??

On Friday the Yankees put Phil Hughes on the DL with a "dead arm" and Lance Pendleton was called up from AAA Scranton.  Pendleton was not called up as a starter to fill in for Hughes, as Bartolo Colon will make the spot starts.  Pendleton will be used as a relief pitcher and possible long man, as he did on Friday night against the Rangers.  On Friday Pendleton didn't even get to Yankee stadium until a couple hours before game time.  He didn't let that affect him and pitched 3 scoreless innings allowing no hits and striking out two.  It was an impressive first Major League Appearance.

Pendleton was drafted by the Yankees back in 2005 in the amateur draft.  He has worked his way through the minors over the past few years after receiving Tommy John surgery.  Last season he made the jump from AA Trenton to AAA Scranton.

In 2010 he went 12-5 with a 3.61 ERA in AA & AAA.  He only appeared in 6 games in AAA Scranton for a total of 34 innings.  The majority of the season he spent with AA Trenton going 10-4 with a 3.43 ERA over 120 innings.  He hasn't been talked much about in the minor leagues and seemed to be just another pitcher on the minor league roster.  It was somewhat surprising seeing Pendleton getting the call on Friday.

During the offseason, Pendleton was drafted by the Astros in the Rule 5 Draft.  The right hander was named the 29th best prospect in the Astros organization by baseball america this past winter.  They called him a fifth starter/long/middle reliever type pitcher.  He throws a fastball, sinker, curveball, slider and changeup.  Pendleton generally works off a fastball which is somewhere in the 90-91 mph range, and uses a curveball consistently.  Last year in the minor leagues he added a slider to his reportoire.

This spring Pendleton contended for the 5th pitcher spot on the Astros, but Nelson Figueroa beat him out for the job.  Pendleton's spring was somewhat lackluster as he had control issues.  He went 1-0 in the Grapefruit League with a 5.87 ERA in seven appearances (1 start).  Ultimately, Houston had no use for him and Pendleton was returned to the Yankees.

• He is 31-22 with a 3.42 ERA over the past three seasons, with 382 strikeouts and 149 walks in 431 innings.  
• This season Pendleton has gone 1-1 in Scranton with a 1.59 ERA.  
• He has only allowed 3 hits in his two starts. 

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UPDATED MAY 5, 2011:  Lance Pendleton has been used by the Yankees as a long reliever/mop up duty similar to Buddy Carlyle.  Pendleton has pitched 5.1 innings in 3 games so far.  He has only allowed 3 hits and struck out 2 batters.  He has a 0.00 ERA.