Breaking: Chase Whitley To Start For The Yankees Thursday

Feb 28, 2013; Tampa, FL, USA; New York Yankees relief pitcher Chase Whitley (81) against the Toronto Blue Jays during a spring training game at George Steinbrenner Field. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports

As I talked about, almost a little too prophetically five days ago, Chase Whitley had done a good job in AAA Scranton and could be the next arm the Yankees were looking at in case they needed another starter. Well CC Sabathia is down with an injury, and according to Fox Sports Ken Rosenthal, Whitley is the next man up and will start Thursday against the Mets.

All the signs were there for it. Whitley was pulled after just one inning in his last start. Alfredo Aceves was used last night out of the bullpen, and especially with Shawn Kelley going on the DL today, the Yankees need as much depth as they can at that spot.

Whitley is 3-2 with a 2.39 ERA in seven games and six starts in AAA. He’s struck out 32 batters in 26.1 innings, while giving up 20 hits and has a 1.02 WHIP.

Who’s roster spot does Whitley take? Well, if either Ichiro Suzuki or Carlos Beltran need more time to recover from their ailments, I would expect a DL stint, especially for Beltran if the cortisone shot doesn’t help the bone spur he suffered.

If they are healthy, look for Zoilo Almonte to head back down to Scranton as #zoilomania will have to wait for another time.