After two taxing games on the Yankees bullpen, manager Joe Girardi has said that right-hander Chase Whitley will get the start Thursday in the Subway series finale at Citi Field. With CC Sabathia on the 15-day disabled list, someone was going to have to fill his spot and Whitley will be that man. Originally Alfredo Aceves was penciled in as Thursday starter, but general manager Brian Cashman said Monday that it would be up to Girardi on how he could use Aceves. Unfortunately Aceves has pitched in the last two games, with the bulk of his innings being used up last night in relief of Vidal Nuno.
Whitley is currently not the 40-man roster, but according to our source they will place pitcher Bruce Billings on the 60-day DL, activate Whitely and will more than likely send reliever Preston Claiborne back down to Scranton. Nothing is official yet, the move could be announced tonight, but this scenario seems like the logical move for the team. Claiborne has pitched quite a bit the last few games, including the eighth inning on Monday were he gave up the lead and ultimately costing the Yankees the win. Matt Daley and Zoilo Almonte could be the other options, but Daley looked pretty good last night, tossing three hitless innings in late inning relief. The pitching staff as a whole is already beat up, Shawn Kelley was just placed on the 15-day so quality arms are at a premium. it wouldn’t make sense to use Adam Warren as starter, he’s become a key piece of the bullpen and David Phelps is already filling in for Michael Pineda.
Whitley has flown under radar at Triple-A Scranton this season, but he’s turned out to be a pleasant surprise thus far. Whitley has appeared in seven games with the RailRiders, six of them have been starts. He is 3-2 with a 2.39 ERA over 26.1 innings, 32 strikeouts, seven walks, a 1.03 WHIP and 10.9 K/9 ratio. In 2 starts in April he pitched a total 10 scoreless innings over two outings. While his numbers might suggest he’s a hard throwing right-hander, Whitley really is the exact opposite. He’s primarily a fastball-changeup pitcher with the occasional sinker and slider mixed in. His fastball tops out around 92 MPH and changeup clocks in around 84 MPH.Â
When Whitley makes his major league debut Thursday it will be 21st pitcher and 37th player the Yankees have used so far this season.
