Yankees right-hander Chase Whitley will undergo Tommy John surgery tomorrow, reports Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (on Twitter). Whitley had previously been diagnosed with a partially torn ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow, but the team was said at the time to be weighing its options.
Other injuries on the Yankees roster led the 25-year-old Whitley to the team’s rotation, and he pitched reasonably well in four starts, tallying a 4.19 ERA with 7.4 K/9 and 2.3 BB/9 in 19 1/3 innings before succumbing to the injury. Whitley reportedly did not speak up about the pain in his elbow after initially feeling it, and the stats seem to bear that out. He allowed just one run in 12 innings in his first two starts before being torched for eight runs over his next 7 1/3 innings. Whitley’s final outing last just 1 2/3 innings. Surgery will likely keep him on the shelf through mid-summer 2016.
The Yankees are known to be thin on pitching depth as is, with Ivan Nova currently rehabbing from his own Tommy John (which he underwent in 2014) and Masahiro Tanaka currently on the DL, trying to avoid the same fate. Michael Pineda looks the part of a true No. 1 starter this season, but he’s had significant shoulder injuries in the past, so it remains to be seen if he can handle a full season’s worth of innings. CC Sabathia has been better than 2014 but still sports a 4.67 ERA, while trade acquisition Nathan Eovaldi has been serviceable, though not spectacular. Adam Warren has also struggled to an extent, and Chris Capuano‘s first start after opening the year on the disabled list did not go well.
The Yankees, then, may miss Whitley more than most would assume based on his limited track record. If nothing else, his absence thins out the teams depth and leaves them much more susceptible to additional injuries in the rotation, as the club’s Triple-A rotation is lacking in high-upside arms.
Partial Tear….. Tommy John…. Why not rehab? Recommended for others.
Obviously the partial tear was not partial enough to do rehab. By comparison, Dr. Ahmed who is the Yankees team doctor recommended Tommy John. A Yankee beat writer said he met with other doctors too and they said Tommy John
In comparison, Tanaka was recommended rehab by the same doctor, and he also went to other doctors, including the famous Dr. James Andrews, and all recommended rehab.
I think these doctors know what they are doing. I enjoy reading comments by people on internet forums that think they know as much, if not More than them. (I’m not saying you are doing that frogbogg, but it would make more sense to ask “Why not rehab?” to a doctor over the internet, unless you can find a world class orthopedic surgeon on the internet)
I see world class orthopedic surgeons all the time on these forums. As well as world class scouts who see a 25 year old with 16 starts and assume he’s as good as a 26 year old with 188 starts.
And “world class” GM’s who give a pitcher with an ERA+ of 97 the 12th highest contract (per AAV) in MLB history for a pitcher
(and “world class” GM’s who give a pitcher $175 million who never threw a single pitch)
You did it again! Somehow you were able to insert a dig at Porcello and Cherington in during a discussion about ortho surgeons. OMG.
Completely Random post here b me. In no way shape or form am I comparing the 2 pitchers and obviously one has a track record that is such is a smaller sample than the other, but I find it interesting how Whitley and Rick Porcello have similar stats and what MLBTR wrote about them in recent article.
Whitley (this article obviously) – and he pitched reasonably well in four starts, tallying a 4.19 ERA with 7.4 K/9 and 2.3 BB/9 in 19 1/3 innings before succumbing to the injury
Porcello – So far, Porcello is looking like the kind of pitcher Boston was hoping for when they inked him to a four-year, $82.5MM extension in April. Through eight starts this season, the 26-year-old has pitched to a 4.26 ERA with 7.8 K/9 and 2.3 BB/9.
Again, I know this is random, and the sample size for Whitley is quite small, but I just find it interesting.
I find it interesting that you obsess about the Red Sox. An article that has nothing to do with the Sox, you found a way to write four paragraphs about them based on a pitcher having a similar ERA as a pitcher on the Red Sox. And this isn’t the first time you’ve Dragged the Red Sox pitching staff into unrelated stories either.
I find it interesting that You assume I am obsessed with the Red Sox, however I am not. I also find it interesting that this is coming from a Red Sox fan who has bought up Yankees before in articles that have nothing to do with them. Oh the irony.
I assume you’re new here. Red Sox fans and Yankee fans talk about the other team A Lot. And not just here, but almost anywhere. Welcome to the internet.
You must be talking about the JBJ article last week, when several Yankee fans were having a trashfest at Bradley’s expense. I pointed out the similarities between Bradley and Gary Sanchez (similar rankings in ’13, both drpped off everyone’s top 100 list, both are more trade chips due to being blocked, both play for large market ALEast team). I then compared how JBJ is crucified for not producing, while nothing is ever said about Sanchez. Yeah, totally unrelated.
Actually it Is unrelated. A Mariners/Red Sox rumored swap has Zilch to do with the Yankees. So yes, totally unrelated.
Nothing is ever said about Sanchez because he hasn’t played in MLB yet whereas JBJ has and has done terrible (with the bat). Again, unrelated. Unless it’s you sporadically bringing up the Yankees in a Red Sox convo (and Admittedly like I did here bringing up Porcello). Why that bothers you, I have no idea. Just bringing up facts which are 1 – Whitley and Porcello’s stats this year are similar (and I’ve already cited the SSS) and 2 – MLBTR and a Boston article has called Porcello an ace in the making with his stats whereas Whitely has done “reasonably well”
I’m done arguing, because there’s no point in arguing about this. I have teh right to talk about what I want, as do you, but don’t call me out for talking about the Red Sox when you do the same for the Yankees.
Lol! I just checked, it was you I was responding to. You know, your comment about how “low Bradley has sunk”. You then proceeded to get all upset that I brought Sanchezs name into the conversation, because it wasn’t on topic. (How ironic is that!!!) At least I could show a parallel between the two, and a logical seg-way.
What’s the logic to bringing Porcello into this comment thread? Then, in another comment thread below, that’s talking about ortho surgeons, you bring Porcello up again! Huh? Porcello’s never needed an ortho, and I don’t think he’s even been on the DL.
There’s a difference between balancing the debate, in a response (what I did)), and just taking pot shots when ever you feel like it (what you did).
I didn’t get “upset” you brought up Sanchez. Just simply said he had nothing to do with that article, as you pointed out that Porcello has nothing to do with this (despite me already acknowledging that from the getgo)
Also I didn’t bring up the comment about Porcello when discussing surgeons, froggbite did first when he said I was comparing Whitley to Porcello when in fact I wasn’t. Again, I’m done arguing. Have a good one sir/ma’am.
No, you said ‘yours has nothing to do with it, just as mine doesn’t’. I said mine does, gave parallels, and asked you to do the same. The difference being, my comment was in a response, and related to the player being spoken about, just as conversations about Hamels might bring up Cueto, or Trout bring up Cabrera. Yours was out of left field, like its a constant point you need to make.
It doesn’t make a difference whether it was a new post Or a response.The point is, you brought up a Yankee player at random. The topic was JBJ, not Sanchez. You argued about something at random. I was simply stating Facts.
And no it wasn’t out of left field since these articles are only a couple of days apart.
Again, let’s just end this nonsense by Both of us.
Time to acquire a pitcher, i’d think…
Capauno replaced him. And Nova will be back in less than a month most likely.
It’s not exactly dire due to Cap coming back, with Nova not far off and Tanaka working to come back soon as well. Rogers is also a possible starting candidate if need be,so they shouldn’t panic and rush to make a deal now, but adding someone at some point would probably be a good idea and will likely happen anyways.
Queue the Cole Hamels rumors.
Nope. Cole will be a Cardinal. You may quote me.
So….any chance they call the Mets to ask about Niese/Colon/Gee? I know NYY fans love to hate on the Mets but consider the #’s:
Niese: 2.49 ERA, 27K, 12BB. 1.38WHIP.
Colon: 3.86 ERA, 42K, 1BB (<–not a typo), 1.03WHIP. 6-2 W/L isn't shabby either.
Gee: 3.86 ERA, 20K, 8BB. 1.35WHIP. (Currently on 15-day DL, but minor injury)
Reason all of those have been on the rumored block since December.. They are just not that much more than back end talent. Kaz would be more like it as someone to help a team.
There could theoretically be conversations between the two at some point, but the Yanks really don’t need back of the rotation help, they have internal options to suit that end of the rotation.They’re more likely to ultimately target someone who slots more comfortably into mid-rotation.
Colon slots as a #2/#3 and Niese a #3/#4, which is what the Yankees need short of getting Hamels/Rental…which would gut their top prospects.
As for Gee…he is the definition of back-end/#5 starter, so I agree with you there.
Grading Colon as a 2 is a little generous , he’s more like a 3/4 on most rotations. Same with grading Niese as a 3, he’s a 4 max. So I guess by that threshold, Colon could make a degree of sense should be wind up shopped and if the price is right, but there are other potential options like Lohse, Gallardo, or maybe even Kazmir, that they could afford without gutting the farm as well.
I’ll give you Colon as a #3…mostly because he pitching like a #2 or goes ugly (5+ runs), but I disagree on Niese. His #’s are better than people give him credit.
As for Lohse…I almost mentioned him in my comment, bc he always seems to be “on the market” for a team looking to make a move. However, this year he has *not* looked better than a #5, with the exception of his most recent game…of course…against the Mets.
Lohse has given up 4 or more runs in 5 of his 8 starts this year. Compare that to Niece, who has given in 0 or 1 run in 5 of his 7 starts. I know Niese is not a #1 or #2…but he is a very serviceable 3. Colon has given up 4 or more runs in only 3 of 8 starts. Gee has given up 4 or more in only 2 of 5 starts this year. Lohse is barely a #5 this year.
Niese has had a good year so far, but he’s really never been a guy that jumps off the page at you with what he does. The past 3 years he’s kept his ERA under 4 and his FIP has been better than I had assumed, so maybe I undersold him a little bit, so maybe he’s more of a 3/4 than 4 at best. That being said, Lohse has definitely had a bad year to this point but it’s hard to say that he won’t turn it around because his last 4 years have been pretty intriguing for a veteran like him(though I admit I thought his impressive numbers wen a bit further back than they did, so I oversold him a bit). In looking at their numbers, they’re rather comparable guys honestly, but I don’t know that the Mets shop Niese, and I do know that MIL shops Lohse.
“God’s plan”
one of the critique of Girardi is pitchers are doomed under his watch. IJS