A blast from the past will aid bullpen
MINNEAPOLIS — Power arms have seduced the Yankees for years. The results have been mixed, but that hasn’t scared the club from chasing them forever.
The Yankees believe they acquired one of the game’s best power arms Tuesday, adding Tommy Kahnle to a bullpen swollen with wings that push speed guns into the high 90s and above.
“What we expected,’’ manager Joe Girardi said after watching the right-handed Kahnle work a scoreless eighth inning and strike out two in Wednesday’s 6-1 loss to the Twins at Target Field. “He has a very good arm and a very good changeup. He is another power arm and another weapon.’’
While newly acquired Todd Frazier is a free agent at the end of this season and David Robertson has one year left on his contract, the 27-year-old Kahnle will be eligible for arbitration for the first time after this season.
“He has a big arm who is pretty consistent with his velocity,’’ former White Sox manager Robin Ventura said of Kahnle. “He lets it fly.’’
In 37 relief appearances for the White Sox, Kahnle was 1-3 with a 2.50 ERA. He struck out 60 in 36 innings and walked just seven.
Drafted in the fifth round of the 2010 draft by the Yankees, Kahnle was taken by the Rockies in the Rule 5 draft in 2013 and dealt to the White Sox two years later.
“I always dreamed that when they drafted me I would pitch in the big leagues [for the Yankees] and it has come,’’ Kahnle said.
Kahnle joins a bullpen that houses Aroldis Chapman and Dellin Betances, two of the most powerful arms in baseball. Adam Warren isn’t a lightweight and neither is Robertson.
“It’s a good club and I am happy to come back,” Kahnle said. “I will do anything to help us win.”