Who Is Kevin Whelan

It probably began with Marte getting injured last season, but the Yankees bullpen issues became noticeably problematic this year when Feliciano and Soriano went on the DL.  Now that Joba needs Tommy John surgery, the yanks bullpen has been decimated.  In response, the Yankees were forced to look internally for bullpen options.

Their choice came as no surprise to anybody who had been keeping an eye on the Triple-A Yankees, as the Yankees called up closer, Kevin Whelan.  Whelan had been putting up outstanding numbers in Scranton this year and seemed to overcome his control issues of years past.  Prior to being called up by the Yanks, Whelan had pitched 27 innings, allowing only 5 earned runs (3 of which were home runs), and only allowing 17 hits.  He already had 18 saves this season, with a 1.67 ERA.  Even more impressive was his WHIP at .852.  Whelan was the obvious choice.

Following the 2006 season, the Yankees acquired Bobby Abreu to play the outfield.  This left Gary Sheffield the odd man out and the Yankees traded him to Detroit.  In return, the Tigers sent Humberto Sanchez, Anthony Claggett and Kevin Whelan to the Yankees.  Whelan is the only man left standing.  Sanchez was released in 2009 and is now playing in Taiwan and Claggett was released by the Pirates in 2010.  Even Sheffield was released in 2009 by the Tigers who were forced to eat his 14 million dollar salary. 

Whelan throws a mix of fastballs and splitters.  His 4 seam fastball tops out at 96 mph and his splitter sits around 84-86 mph, with the bottom noticeable dropping out on the pitch.  The splitter is very effective against lefty’s.  He also throws a 2 seam fastball, which has a bit of sink to it, and has a changeup in his arsenal.  The 27 year old righty, has a funky delivery as he is a converted catcher (in college) which helps to deceive batters.  This all makes for a lot of strikeouts.  In Triple-A, Whelan already had 30 strikeouts in the 27 innings pitched!

So far he has only pitched in two games for the Yankees.  The first game was last Friday against the Indians.  This was not a good outing for Whelan as he walked 4 batters, including 3 walks in a row to drive in a run.  His second outing was better, but he still allowed another walk, but no hits or runs.  Prior to being called up by the Yankees, it seemed like Whelan had overcome his control issues of years past.  In Triple A this year, he had only allowed 6 walks, which made for a 2/9IP walks to Innings pitched ratio.  In 2010 his walk ratio was 5.7/9IP and in 2009 it was 9.2/9IP.  Just looking at the numbers you can tell that prior to 2011, Whelan had major control issues. 

Although his control issues had always been a problem, I’m not sure they will persist this year.  Even though he did issue four walks in his first appearance, I will give him the benefit of the doubt as it was his first major league start.  His nerves alone could have caused the problems and by all accounts, the Whelan we saw Friday was not the same closer we saw in Triple-A this year.  Either way, the control issue will be something to keep an eye one, as the Yankees can’t afford to have pitchers walking batters.  They already have Logan!

UPDATED JUNE 16:  Whelan's stint in the majors didn't last long, as he was optioned back down to Triple-A Scranton yesterday to make room on the roster for Cory Wade.  Wade was previously with the Ray's Triple-A team and released earlier in June.  He pitched a scoreless 8th inning in last night's game.  From last night's appearance it looks as though Wade has a large repertoire of pitches and no batter saw any pitch twice in the at bat.