YGY Staten Island Yankees’ Top 5 Players Of The Week (7/28-8/4)

Yankees’ prospect Matt Wotherspoon-Mandatory Credit: cardiachill.com

4. RHP Matt Wotherspoon (2-2, 2.05 ERA)

Last week, I mentioned Wotherspoon as the pitcher who won New York-Penn League pitcher of week. The 34^th round pick in this year’s draft has made the transition to the bullpen after being a starter in his final year at Pittsburgh. I talked to Wotherspoon after Saturday night’s game about how that move has been going for him:

“I just try to go out there every day and make one part of my game better,” said Wotherspoon. “It’s been fairly easy. Early on, it was more difficult, but now I’m in the swing of things.”

He mentioned to me about how it was important to stay loose out of the pen, but his slider has been his go-to pitch in addition to his fastball and changeup. In 22 innings pitched, he has 21 strikeouts to just three walks. This past week, he pitched 2.1 innings, giving up no earned runs (three total runs) and struck out three batters. He hasn’t walked a hitter in an outing since July 12 against State College.

Pitching coach Tim Norton also told me on Saturday night that Wotherspoon is a pitcher who is a “four-pitch guy that throws strikes, attacks the strike zone, and executes pitches. That’s why he has the strikeouts.”