Tommy Kahnle is Back

The Yankees traded for Tommy Kahnle during the middle of the 2017 season to strengthen their super-bullpen. Kahnle did exactly as he was expected to do, finishing out 2017 as a reliable reliever for New York. However, his 2018 season did not go as planned, and there were calls from fans and the media to cut him.

The Yankees were Kahnle’s original team. Although he never appeared in a major league game with them, Kahnle was drafted in the 5th round of the 2010 draft and spent several years in their minor league system. Sensing his promise, the Colorado Rockies scooped him up in the Rule 5 Draft and the righty made his MLB debut on April 3, 2014. After 2 years and 102 innings of 100 ERA+ relief pitching, they traded him to the White Sox after the 2015 season. Kahnle put in one and a half solid years for Chicago, who eventually traded him to the Yankees during summer 2017. Kahnle posted a 2.70 ERA for the Yankees through the remainder of the 2017 season. In 2018, though, the wheels fell off the wagon.

Kahnle lost more than 3 mph off his fastball, and that combined with batters not biting on his offerings, and being unable to find the strike zone compared to previous years, with his strike percentage down by 6, batters were able to hit Kahnle harder: he allowed a 16.1% soft contact rate, while his medium contact rate went down and his harder hit contact went up. His K-BB% dropped by 10%. This all led to a 6.56 ERA in the majors for the Yankees in 23.1 innings. He did not fair much better in the minors, posting a 4.01 ERA for the Yankees’ AAA affiliate.

This season, Kahnle is posting a 2.70 ERA, inflated by a disastrous 1 inning, 4 run appearance against the Indians on June 9. His fastball velocity is back up around 97 mph, and his slider usage has dropped, favoring his changeup a career high 42.3% of the time. Batters are swinging 7% more often than against him last year, while contact against his pitches is down 1.3%. Kahnle is now able to find the zone roughly half the time, compared to only 45.7% last year.

So while much of the credit for the Yankees’ bullpen dominance may go to Aroldis Chapman, Zack Britton and Adam Ottavino, Kahnle’s improvement is also a major reason why the unit has been successful.

May your pennants fly forever.

-Prentiss