What Did Cashman See in Chasen Shreve?

I have to say I was one of the biggest hype-men for Manny Banuelos making his debut in 2015 for the New York Yankees. I wrote about his potential and how he could help the Major League roster numerous times. I obviously am only a writer and don’t know what the front office knows about Man-Ban. They knew enough to feel he was expendable and the organization would be gaining more with Chasen Shreve (fantastic name by the way) and David Carpenter. However, it came as a shock to me and I am sure many other fans when the once can’t miss prospect was shipped off. I assume that the lack of control over his stuff and the Tommy John surgery had the Yankees growing impatient. It was probably easier to cash in on his hype than to wait for his contribution in the box score.

It can be argued that the trade wasn’t so much for Shreve, but more for Carpenter. He posted a 2.63 ERA, 3.92 K/BB rate and 141 strikeouts over 126 2/3 innings pitched in the last two seasons with the Atlanta Braves. Carpenter will be a solid addition to the bullpen, but what dad Brian Cashman see in Shreve to feel the need to make sure he was a part of the deal? Any Atlanta Brave fan will tell you they never even heard of him until he was called up. It turns out the only reason he was even scouted or drafted was because scouts saw him when they went to see his college teammate Bryce Harper. Even with that being said, he wasn’t a premier pitcher in college either. 

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There is a weird phenomenon that some players and pitchers don’t exactly excel in the farms but when they get their chance in The Show, they do not disappoint. If you examine Matt Harvey‘s numbers, the ace didn’t show much indication he would be this dominant in the bigs. While Shreve is not on the same level as Harvey, he did put on an impressive show in his limited time.

He only threw 12.1 innings for the Braves, but in that time he posted a 0.73 ERA and a 10.9 K/9. Shreve managed to gain four MPH on his fastball too last season. He hit 92 MPH on the gun and said he can throw hard if he wants to, but chooses to spot the ball instead. The increased fastball velocity made his off-speed pitches more effective, which resulted in the excellent K/9. Shreve is not nearly as good of a prospect as Man-Ban, but the fact is that he fit right into the strategy of pursuing depth that Cashman has been following all season. The Yankees got a proven relief pitcher in Carpenter and decent upside in a young, left-handed Shreve for an unproven Banuelos.