Phelps impresses in extended outing

pitched a stellar 2.1 innings in relief of the extra-erratic (five wild pitches?!) last night. He didn’t allow a baserunner and struck out four Oriole hitters, using mostly his fastball. It was definitely impressive and let me dream that he’ll be used in some more higher leverage spots. Before we get into the pitch f/x of Phelps’ outing, let’s think about his potential usage.

As the long-man, it seems that Phelps will be used sparingly, as most long men are. This makes sense as they’re usually reserved for blowouts or short outings. Given the team’s bullpen construction, though, with as the only “middle inning” righty, the Yankees may be forced to do some odd matchups. Perhaps, then, it would make more sense to use Phelps as an option before Wade, , or . Phelps has been a starter for his entire minor league career, so he’s certainly familiar with facing lefties and righties, and through 2010 had shown no platoon split. Phelps can provide value in the innings he can pitch, and in that he can get both lefties and righties out. That’ll be a big help in games like last night’s as well as games when or needs a rest.

As for last night’s game, Phelps was averaging 90.90 MPH on his fastball (of which he threw 20) and topped out at 92.3 MPH. We should note that each fastball was a two-seamer, but there were definitely times when it appeared to have two-seam movement, which definitely messed with the hitters. In fact, all his strikeouts came via that fastball and they were all looking. If ever there was something reminiscent of early 2011 , it was Phelps’ pitching last night.