Bullpen issues: Give the kids an actual shot
The Yankees bullpen is a mess. Here's the first step on how to fix it.
The first person who should be called up ASAP is George Kontos. The 26-year old reliever is having a fantastic year in AAA: 55.2 IP, 9.5 K/9, 2.7 BB/9, 3.47 K/BB, 6.7 Hits/9, 2.26 ERA. We brought up Kontos to Mark Newman in our interview at the end of the June and here's what he said:
SJK: Last question, with Joba, Feliciano, and Soriano going down, are there any other arms we should be paying attention to? Maybe George Kontos?
MN: You hit the nail on the head on the guy. He's healthy now and he's throwing the ball better than ever. His fastball is 92-93. He's got a swing-and-miss slider. If his strike rate with the fastball improves, he'll certainly be an option for us. His slider is legit. It's late, it's quick. It's 85-86. His strikeout rate is 9.5. His walk rate is as low as it's ever been. He's doing well. He's putting himself on the map.
Working against Kontos though is a high HR rate. He's allowed 8 home runs, resulting in a HR/9 of 1.3 (and 3.92 FIP). His groundball/flyball ratio is 0.60, so he doesn't really keep the ball on the ground. He's also benefiting from an extremely high Left on Base percentage of 93.9% and a very low BABIP of .239.
But still he's striking out a career high 27.4% of batters he faces and has pitched well enough to get a shot. We're not asking him to be the savior of the bullpen, but let the boy water your plants.
Also, don't forget about Kevin Whelan. He's been even better than Kontos (10.3 K/9, 1.9 BB/9, 5.33 K/BB, 1.0 HR/9, 1.86 ERA, 2.96 FIP). He just came off the DL after a 1.2 inning stint with the big club in the second week of June. We're open to the fact that his walk rate could be fluky given his career average, but he deserves another shot too. But since he performed poorly in his quickie in the Bronx, he'll either get the Hector Noesi treatment or never again see the banking executives who litter the front rows of the Stadium. Meet how the Yankees treat pitching prospects in 2011.
We still think the Yankees need a high-caliber reliever, especially after Joba going under the knife. Hopefully, Rafael Soriano can be that if he ever pitches again this year. But the Yankees can definitely improve at the fringes of the pen, and sometimes prospects can turn into productive components if you give them an actual chance.
