Yankees miss Tommy Kahnle at the back end of their bullpen

The Yankees bullpen has been solid after a slow start to the season despite missing some key contributors who are out with injuries. Tommy Kahnle has been missed the most but the hope is that he can return by the end of the current road trip.

Getting Kahnle back as an option at the back end of the bullpen is something the Yankees and Aaron Boone have been waiting for ever since he went on the DL back on April 17th. He’s been sidelined with right shoulder tendinitis after his velocity was noticeably down and his ERA (6.14) was way up in his first six outings.

When Kahnle is at his best his fastball mph usually ranges anywhere from 97-100. Early on in the season, he was closer to 93-95. His control was also way off with 8 BB’s in 7.1 innings and he had a dismal 1.64 WHIP. Clearly, something with his arm wasn’t right.

Now that’s he’s had plenty of time to rest and has begun rehabbing it’s expected that he’ll be back very soon according to Boone. We probably won’t see him this weekend in Kansas City, but it sounds like he’ll be with the team next week in Texas to play the Rangers.

The Yankees as a whole have managed just fine without Kahnle winning 19 of their last 22, but they could really use another power arm to set things up for Aroldis Chapman. Chapman has been lights out this season while the rest of the pen has yet to be as dominant. Chad Green has been good, but David Robertson and Dellin Betances have been less consistent as every now and then they’ve delivered a poor outing just when it looks like they’re about to hit their stride.

Jonathan Holder has been much better of late, but he, Chasen Shreve and even Betances still aren’t guys you have a lot of faith in during late game situations. That’s why the Yanks need a healthy Kahnle back as soon as possible.

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Adding him to the mix will allow Boone to mix and match more and avoid having to use his most trusted relievers on back to back days or for multiple innings. We’ve seen Green not be as sharp when he pitches a second day in a row and we all know Betances has struggled when he pitches more than one inning.

We’ll have to wait and see if Kahnle can regain his form from a season ago, but if he can this Yankee pen has a chance to be the shutdown group we all expected them to be before the season.

The same can be said once Adam Warren comes back as well, however, there’s still no timetable for his return from back issues.

The return of Kahnle will be huge after he was such a big part of last year’s pen, especially during the playoffs. He’s a guy with closer stuff (13.8 K/9 in ’17) and like most of the Yankee relievers, he doesn’t have an ego. It doesn’t matter to him if he pitches in the fourth inning or the eighth which is exactly what you want from one of your setup men.

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The Yankees have been great in his absence, but you can never have too many power arms in your bullpen over the course of a season. That’s especially true come playoff time, where the Yankees are going to rely on Kahnle to get some big outs to help them get over the hump this time around.

First, the main goal is to win the division and a healthy Kahnle back in the bullpen should only help the Yankees accomplish that.