The Yankees have solidified the back end of their bullpen after signing free agent Aroldis Chapman. Despite a solid group of Chapman, Dellin Betances, and Tyler Clippard taking up the late inning roles, the bullpen is still a complete mystery otherwise. Adam Warren will reportedly be entering spring training as a starting pitcher, so that cuts the talent pool down even further. It sounds like they could use some cheap veteran talent with some upside.
There are plenty of internal options for the Yankees to choose from to start the season, but how many unproven players can you add before you need someone with a proven track record for success? Luis Severino should be in the rotation, Luis Cessa might also end up being a starter, Chad Green and Bryan Mitchell have seen mixed results so far, and Ben Heller and Jonathan Holder are good, but they haven’t exactly gotten off to smooth starts. This is where someone like Tom Wilhelmsen can come into play.
2016 Statistics: 50 G, 46.1 IP, 6.80 ERA, 6.38 FIP, 5.4 K/9, 3.7 BB/9
Age on Opening Day 2017: 33
Position: Right-handed relief pitcher
We need to get this out of the way first—Wilhelmsen was absolutely atrocious last season. He was traded to the Rangers in the offseason, spending his first time away from the Mariners in abject misery. He allowed 16 hits per nine innings with seven home runs in just 21.1 innings that resulted in a 10.55 ERA with Texas. Wilhelmsen was released by mid-June before making his way back to Seattle and turning things around.
For a stint to be that bad, something had to be wrong, right? However, after looking into every possible reason, I could not find anything different from the year before. There were no mechanical issues to blame, his velocity was consistent, and his pitch usage was generally the same. He did, however, throw more pitches down the middle of the plate than usual this year, which in turn resulted in more contact within the strike zone. He also missed fewer bats, which led to lower strikeout rates and higher home run rates.
Whatever the problem was, he mostly shook it off after reuniting with the Mariners. He achieved a 3.60 ERA when he returned to Seattle in 2016, and several of his peripherals fell back down to more normal levels. After accumulating a 2.97 ERA with an 8.5 K/9 from 2011 to 2015, you would have to hope that one uncharacteristically bad year—with no noticeable cause—can be overcome. Still, he’s a reliever in his 30s and it wouldn’t be surprising if this was the end for him.
Seattle released him because they had no desire to pay Wilhelmsen $3.8 million when they don’t know what they can expect from him going forward. At this point, he will likely have to settle for a minor league deal, which the Yankees should have no problem offering to him. Add in some incentives if he makes the major league team out of spring training and perhaps they could have a solid middle reliever for the sixth and seventh innings. It’s possible that the Mariners try to re-sign him at a lower deal, which is fine. Wilhelmsen would be a decent addition to take a chance on, but he’s no one the Yankees should be fighting over.