Written by Greg Fertel
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20 January 2008
- Age: 24
- Height: 6'0"
- Weight: 200 lbs
- Position: Relief Pitcher
- Throws: Right
Scouting Report: Whelan possses a low-to-mid 90s fastball, but his real weapon is a devastating splitter. I'm not sure if it can be described as plus-plus, but its certainly what propels his amazing strikeout capability. His control is just plain bad - he showed signs of improvement in the middle of the season, but regressed toward the end. Still, Whelan is one of the hardest minor league pitchers in the game to get a hit off of.
History: Whelan started as a catcher at Texas A&M, but couldnt hit, so Texas started to convert him to the bullpen his sophomore year. Unfortunately, an injury to their other catcher forced Whelan to delay that full time conversion a season. Whelan blew away the Cape Code league in 2004, and has been only a relief pitcher since. The Tigers drafted him in the 4th round. Heading into 2006, Whelan had pitched 78 minor league innings and allowed just 39 hits(4.49 per 9), 37 walks (4.26 per 9), two home runs(0.23 per 9), and a 2.30 ERA, with 110 strikeouts (12.68 per 9), in all three A ball levels. The Yankees acquired him in the Gary Sheffield trade.
This Season: Whelan was sent to Trenton, with mixed results. On one hand, Whelan did what he has always done: strike people out and prevent runs from crossing the plate. He pitched 31 innings with a 2.90 ERA, striking out 40 (11.61 per 9). However, his control has gotten worse, with 25 walks (7.25 per 9). Seeing the problem, the Yankees brought Whelan back down to Tampa, where Nardi Contreras and the rest of the brain trust could more closely monitor him and try to figure out a way to keep the wildness down. They were moderately successful, as Whelan walked just 12 in 28 innings (3.86 per 9 - just a little below average), while pitching as a starter. Having worked out his control problems, he was promoted back to Trenton, where he pitched 21 2/3 innings, but walked 16 batters, or over 6.6 per 9. Overall on the season, his line was 82 innings, 96 strikeouts (10.53 per 9), 54 walks (6 (!) per 9), a 2.63 ERA, and just 45 hits allowed (4.94 per 9).
Outlook and Movement: Mark Newman told
Chad Jennings that Whelan would start the season at Double-A. He did not receive an invite to spring training, despite the extremely inexperienced
Mark Melancon getting one. The Yankees clearly see Whelan as a long-term project, not a potential short-term commodity at the big league level. I declared earlier this season that getting Whelan's mostly untested arm up to a major league workload should be the primary goal of the Yankees for the 2007 season. He had pitched no more than 55 innings in a single season. I wouldn't expect to see Whelan in the majors at all in 2008, but he's got the raw ability to surprise.
Ranking: Eric and I differed on Whelan. I rank Whelan at 11, while Eric has him all the way down at 23. So, I'd love to hear Eric chime in and explain his difference. I love Kevin Whelan - I think he could be very, very good at the major league level. He was one of the hardest pitchers in the minors to get a hit off of this year, and has maintained very high strikeout rates at every level. It's a testament to how hard to hit he is that even with an absolutely abysmal walk rate, Whelan was an effective reliever. Now, he's not going to go anywhere in the majors walking 6 per 9, but if he could cut his walk rate down to 4 per 9, he would be absolutely dominating. He could easily go the other way too. He compares very well to Brian Bruney, but so did a lot of killer relievers at this age. It's easy to forget that Whelan has only been pitching for 3 years. Batters hit just .176/.326/.251 off Whelan at Trenton this season even though he worse than at any point in his career. That's the kind of guy you want on the mound in the 7th inning with two on and none out.
