The Yankees bullpen is a mess. Here’s the first step on how to fix it.
The first person who should be called up ASAP is George Kontos. The 26-year old reliever is having a fantastic year in AAA: 55.2 IP, 9.5 K/9, 2.7 BB/9, 3.47 K/BB, 6.7 Hits/9, 2.26 ERA. We brought up Kontos to Mark Newman in our interview at the end of the June and here’s what he said:
SJK: Last question, with Joba, Feliciano, and Soriano going down, are there any other arms we should be paying attention to? Maybe George Kontos?
MN: You hit the nail on the head on the guy. He’s healthy now and he’s throwing the ball better than ever. His fastball is 92-93. He’s got a swing-and-miss slider. If his strike rate with the fastball improves, he’ll certainly be an option for us. His slider is legit. It’s late, it’s quick. It’s 85-86. His strikeout rate is 9.5. His walk rate is as low as it’s ever been. He’s doing well. He’s putting himself on the map.
Working against Kontos though is a high HR rate. He’s allowed 8 home runs, resulting in a HR/9 of 1.3 (and 3.92 FIP). His groundball/flyball ratio is 0.60, so he doesn’t really keep the ball on the ground. He’s also benefiting from an extremely high Left on Base percentage of 93.9% and a very low BABIP of .239.
But still he’s striking out a career high 27.4% of batters he faces and has pitched well enough to get a shot. We’re not asking him to be the savior of the bullpen, but let the boy water your plants.
Also, don’t forget about Kevin Whelan. He’s been even better than Kontos (10.3 K/9, 1.9 BB/9, 5.33 K/BB, 1.0 HR/9, 1.86 ERA, 2.96 FIP). He just came off the DL after a 1.2 inning stint with the big club in the second week of June. We’re open to the fact that his walk rate could be fluky given his career average, but he deserves another shot too. But since he performed poorly in his quickie in the Bronx, he’ll either get the Hector Noesi treatment or never again see the banking executives who litter the front rows of the Stadium. Meet how the Yankees treat pitching prospects in 2011.
We still think the Yankees need a high-caliber reliever, especially after Joba going under the knife. Hopefully, Rafael Soriano can be that if he ever pitches again this year. But the Yankees can definitely improve at the fringes of the pen, and sometimes prospects can turn into productive components if you give them an actual chance.
41 Comments
Erik July 16, 2011 08:04
What about Venditte? This guy has proven himself at each level with better stats then top prospects in the system. He pitched well for spring training. We need bullpen help let’s give the guy a shot cause it can’t be worse then what is pitching.
warner wolf July 16, 2011 08:44
What about Veditte? That’s simple. He’s 26 throwing in double A. That’s not a good combination.
Without ever seeing him pitch I can tell you right now it must translate to meatballs at the Major level.
Jay Destro Penis July 18, 2011 11:38
Check the videotape.
warner wolf July 16, 2011 08:06
George Kontos is a career minor league ballplayer. The book has been written on his career awhile go it’s titled “Farm Hand”
You think him & Kevin Whelan yet another career minor bitch who can’t throw a strike if his life depended on it are the solutions by comparing them to David Robertson??
Newsflash, D-Rob was in the majors by time he was 23. Ya know, the age that says Now or Never.
You’re totally over your heads thinking those 2 never was scrubs can turn out to be D-Rob.
Please nominate yourself your DOM.
HW July 16, 2011 08:17
You’re a douchebag that has no life. You bash nomaas constantly but come here every day. Learn to read too. At no point did they say they’re the next d-rob…they said productive components and fringes of the bullpen start your own baseball blog, hater. you know absolutely shit about the minors. you think mitre deserves a shot over these two? loser.
warner wolf July 16, 2011 08:29
HW. It’s not what read its what I saw. they put a picture of D ROB linked to a sentence that said “sometimes prospects can turn into productive components if you give them an actual chance.”
it’s called implication. English 120. Look into it.
Carl Sagan July 16, 2011 23:18
Unfortunately for you HW, Warner went to the video tap. He saw the link that points to a picture of DRob. So NoMaas essential said DRob but called him a “productive component” via a hyper link. The folks at NoMaas assume you use their web site posts correctly. They assumed wrong in your case.
The fact that people gave it 4 thumbs down proves there are at least 5 people not used to clicking on the hyperlinks that NoMaas has laced this article with to put emphasis on their discussion that they think two scrubs are actually in the same league as D-Rob.
Alfredo Griffin July 16, 2011 08:20
Warner, do you know how to read?
warner wolf July 16, 2011 08:36
Do you know how to click on a link that shows you David Robertson?
Serious question July 16, 2011 08:18
Who decided age 23 is the “Now or Never” age?
warner wolf July 16, 2011 08:26
that’s right baseball is just littered with guys who made their debut at 26.
Serious question July 16, 2011 08:27
Do you not know how to answer a question?
warner wolf July 16, 2011 08:33
go look at the entire Yankee 25 man roster & tell me how many guys made their debut at 26 as opposed to the ones who made it at 23 or less. get back to me on that.
Joe Páwlikowski July 19, 2011 10:03
You are a woman after my own heart, Warner.
warner wolf July 16, 2011 08:25
Also, the fact that you think Kevin Whelan & George Kontos are “kids” & “prospects” is sad.
the fact that you think this mode of operation just started in 2011 tells me you know little about Yankee history.
You have $200 million & these are your bright ideas that will prevent the yankees from losing a game?
Nomaas Nomaas.
Serious question July 16, 2011 08:27
Do you know more than Mark Newman?
warner wolf July 16, 2011 08:31
I don’t know how much he knows. I do know that I don’t make those calls but I’m glad that they yankees see things my way. Which is 26 year old scrubs ain’t kids or prospects. they’re life time suckers who don’t deserve a chance at the big league level.
they are just warm bodies to fill a farm team. not real solutions.
Royce July 16, 2011 08:29
Saturday morning, beautiful day, and overweight warner wolf is fired up about a bullpen post. Not much going on in your world, huh
warner wolf July 16, 2011 08:32
Royce, why don’t you add something instead of protecting your friends at NM feelings.
Ki m Last July 18, 2011 11:40
He has lumps
Binger July 16, 2011 08:31
Do you know my dad?
Honey Badger July 16, 2011 09:01
Whoa, Warner doesn’t give a SHIT!
Mike Mussina July 16, 2011 09:23
I’ll be given a shot before the kids.
Boner Jams July 16, 2011 12:42
Eh, if you are gonna have a 26 yr old rookie, it might as well be for the 25th man on the roster/middling reliever.
I am sure plenty of teams have gone to battle with worse 25th player/middling reliever.
Ben K. July 16, 2011 15:19
I shall put the sheeny curse on anyone who misbehaves.
BadAssBillyCurtis July 17, 2011 06:25
Do sheeny curses have lumps?
Mike L July 16, 2011 17:17
The fact that Kontos is 26 years old is irrelevant. All that matters is whether or not he can get major league batters out. I’m not saying he has what it takes, but you can’t just write him off because of his age. Maybe all he is is a minor league “scrub,” or maybe it has just taken him longer to become major league ready. Either way, you’re not going to know for sure unless you give him a chance. With the bullpen in shambles, I don’t see a better time to do that than now.
warner wolf July 16, 2011 17:29
How is pitching in the minors for 6 years not giving him a chance? You really think he has gone under the radar & every scout from our team & others have missed something?
hard to believe. being 26 is very big indicator to me that this guy won’t be effective on the major level.
& being 26 is relevant when Nomaas is touting him as a “prospect” of which he is not under any study.
He doesn’t even have the stuff to be a useful journey man. He’s bad.
Mike L July 16, 2011 17:52
But that’s assuming he hasn’t made any progress in those 6 years. That’s the purpose of a minor league system — to learn the game and become a better player. Even number one draft picks need seasoning in the minors. Maybe this guy just needed more time to develop, to become healthy, to gain a few mph on his fastball or to improve his command. Some people just bloom late. Look at Jose Bautista.
I haven’t seen Kontos pitch; I don’t know a lot about him, and I don’t know if that’s the case for him. You may be right in saying that he has no future in the big leagues. All I’m saying is that you can’t base that simply on the fact that he’s 26 years old.
And just for the record, I don’t agree with the “prospect” tag either.
warner wolf July 16, 2011 23:20
Jose Bautista bloomed late but he was already in the show by time he was 23.
Age tells a lot. & what I’m saying is past 24 is suspect more than prospect.
since testing for PEDs has arrived it makes it even less likely that a guy over the age of 24 who hasn’t made his debut yet is likely going to have any sustainable success in the majors.
in short, my opinion is based strictly on his age.
I would love to be proven wrong but history says if you haven’t made the show by time your 24 then you’re no good.
Pete C. July 17, 2011 07:33
Warner, if these guys are to far gone for a call up, and I’m not disputing your point, what do you have for a suggestion to improve the pen right now?
King of the Centaurs July 18, 2011 10:04
If we’re going to ignore someone solely because of their age, why even bother keeping them on a minor league contract – just so Scranton can contend for the IL championship?
Carl Sagan July 16, 2011 23:28
Starting a career at 26 is relevant. That’s just basic baseball history.
Ki m Last July 16, 2011 17:53
Lumps. 26 year lumps
BadAssBillyCurtis July 17, 2011 06:24
Does Kontos have lumps?
BillyBall15 July 17, 2011 10:23
Hey Warner,
I can name quite a few major league players that came up late and did very well for themselves. Shall we start with the first baseman for the Phillies. I believe his name is Howard? lol
Not saying a majority of major leaguers came up after their 23 birthday, just giving a fact that contradicts your n
know it all attitude.
BTW, NOMass, when are you gonna post about the Ubaldo Jimenez rumors. I hope we don’t trade the farm for a guy that lost 3 mph on fastball, pitches in national league, and has attitude problem. I say keep the killer B’s and Montero.
Steve Balboni's Bastard July 18, 2011 11:41
What about young pitchers and the Yankees development of them makes you think either B is going to be an ace? Jimenez already is.
Reality July 18, 2011 12:26
He’s already peeked, after he started 2010 at 13-1, he is 11-15 in 240 innings (just over a year) with a 4.05 ERA. (enter how ERA is not a good stat comment here___________)
Steve Balboni's Bastard July 19, 2011 10:05
Check out his perip’s if you think he peaked in May of ’10. He’s been just as solid.
Reality July 19, 2011 11:30
Except the 3 mph he’s lost on his fastball.
Steve Balboni's Bastard July 19, 2011 15:37
Well, there has to be some reason Colorado is dealing him.
But it hasn’t really affected his #’s