Yankees’ Non-Roster Invite Profile: Tyler Webb

Towards the end of last season, all the talk around the New York Yankees young bullpen arms was around their second round draft pick, Jacob Lindgren. While that attention was rightfully put towards Lindgren, there was another lefty at triple-A Scranton who some thought deserved to get the call to the big leagues. The player I am talking about is left-handed reliever Tyler Webb.

Webb is 24 years old and has been in the Yankees’ organization each of the last two seasons. The Yankees took Webb in the 10^th round of the 2013 MLB Draft. Webb, the former South Carolina closer, was part of a Gamecocks’ bullpen that won the College World Series in 2013. He had 60 strikeouts in 32 appearances to go with a 1.47 ERA and 17 saves in his final season playing SEC baseball.

I actually had the privilege to watch one of Webb’s four appearances with the Staten Island Yankees when I covered the team in 2013 and he showed his ability to rack up strikeouts in bunches (eight K’s in five innings). He made four appearances in the New-York Penn League (one save) before heading to low-A Charleston. Down in Charleston, Webb went 3-1 with a 3.86 ERA in 16 games, had two saves, and only walked six batters to go with 40 strikeouts.

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Last season, Webb spent the bulk of the season in both double-A Trenton and triple-A Scranton Wilkes-Barre after eight games in high-A Tampa. Webb began the year in Trenton, but had somewhat of a rough time in the Eastern League, going 1-6 with a 4.04 ERA and had seven saves in ten chances over 23 appearances. However, in Webb’s final four games of July, he ended his AA stint on a good note, striking out ten batters and walking two in seven innings of work (1.29 ERA). Plus, he was an All-Star in the Eastern League last year, which earned him a promotion to Scranton.

In the final two months of the season, the lefty went 2-0 with a 4.05 ERA in 17 games. He struck out 26 batters and walked seven over 20 innings. If you look at the month of August, Webb did have an outing vs. Buffalo on August 27 when he gave up four earned runs 0.2 innings. That being said, with the exception of that game, he did not give up an earned run in seven of his final nine appearances.

When you look at Webb’s scouting report, he is mainly a two-pitch pitcher with his fastball and curveball. If he can work on his control (over three walks per nine at both AA and AA last season), he could be a pitcher that can rack up the strikeouts (12.3 K’s per nine in 2014) and find his way in the Bronx at some point in 2015.

Yankees’ Non-Roster Invite Profile: Tyler Webb

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