In one of the most improbable starting debuts of the last several years (in my opinion, even more improbable than Vidal Nuno), the Yankees are handing the ball to 24-year old Chase Whitley tonight in the final game of the 2014 Subway Series.
The fact that Whitley is on the team is not the improbable part of the story. Since entering the organization as a 15th round pick out of Troy University in 2010, Whitley has steadily climbed through the organization, never compiling an ERA higher than 3.09 during any season. The improbable part of the story is that his major league debut will be as a starting pitcher, a role that I assuming not even his biggest supporters in the organization ever envisioned for him.
Whitley has toed the rubber in the minor leagues 151 times in his career. Only 14 of those appearances were as a starting pitcher, making random spot starts earlier in his career before settling into the Scranton rotation this season. While many starting pitchers have to become relievers because they are unable to develop a good enough third pitch, Whitley went in the other direction. He went from being primarily a fastball/change up pitcher to a fastball/change up/slider pitcher, with his slider developing into a major league quality pitch. However, make no mistake about it: Whitley's best pitch is his change up, which he throws in the low-to-mid 80s to compliment his low 90s fastball, which has some sink. His GB rates in the minor leagues have been solid (46.2% career rate; 52.3% for Scranton this season), and he has been able to keep the ball in the ballpark, allowing 19 career home runs in 306.2 innings.
Interestingly enough, Whitley will be opposed today by a Mets' pitcher also making his big league debut, Jake deGroom. Like Whitley, deGroom doesn't really jump out at you. He is 26 years old, and throws a decent fastball with a slider/change combination considered to be mostly average. He is a middle-of-the-road type of prospect who profiles best as a back-of-the-rotation starter or middle reliever, which is the same zone Whitley is in right now.
Neither pitcher projects as a big-time major league pitcher now or down the road, which only means to expect a 1-0 game tonight, with the one run coming on an error by (insert Yankees' infielder here).
Bottom line? I have always been a fan of Whitley - and the fact that he developed a third pitch good enough to allow him to at least be a spot starter adds greatly to his value. That said, don't go into tonight's game expecting to tantalized by his stuff, or expect him to throw a gem. He could get knocked out early if he isn't commanding his pitches (he supposedly has good command of everything he throws, but throw all that out the door when a pitcher is making his debut). If Whitley does impress, however, there is a rotation spot to fight for, especially if CC Sabathia's injury lingers longer than 2-3 weeks. Whitley and Nuno could be battling for a long-term fifth slot in the rotation, barring trades and assuming Michael Pineda comes back healthy and is able to last the season.
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