The New York Yankees believe that relief pitcher Tommy Kahnle should be activated on Wednesday as long as his final rehab appearance goes well on Sunday against the Somerset Patriots, according to Greg Joyce of the New York Post.
The Yankees came into Sunday with a 32-15 record overall as they seek a sweep of the Chicago White Sox. New York's bullpen has been dominant, but the return of Tommy Kahnle is significant and he should be one of the main pieces when he does return.
When looking at the injuries the Yankees are dealing with, the main two that jump off of the page are Gerrit Cole's elbow injury and DJ LeMahieu's foot injury. Gerrit Cole is obviously the ace of the Yankees' rotation, and his return will be the biggest one when it comes to New York's postseason chances, despite the rotation performing great so far in his absence.
DJ LeMahieu's absence is significant when looking at the third base position. The Yankees have played Oswaldo Cabrera and Jon Berti at that spot for most of this season, and while they have held their own, that is currently seen as one of the weakest positions on the team. If LeMahieu struggles to come back, third base is likely the main position to look at when the trade deadline comes around for the Yankees.
As far as Kahnle goes, he will be joining a pitching staff, and specifically a bullpen that has been among the league's best. As of late, New York has been hot offensively, but there were some stretches in April in which the lineup struggled, and the pitching did a great job of keeping the Yankees in games. Kahnle joining the bullpen will be huge in multiple ways.
Tommy Kahnle's role in the Yankees bullpen
Kahnle has been with the Yankees for multiple stints now, and the team has usually used him against lefties a lot. Despite being a right-handed pitcher, his changeup allows him to be effective against left-handed batters. That is undoubtedly the role that he will fit in when he does come back.
Not only will Kahnle's presence just give Aaron Boone another quality option to go to out of the pen, he will lessen the workload for other pitchers in the bullpen as well. The top two relievers this season for New York have been Clay Holmes and Luke Weaver. Holmes has not given up a run yet, while Weaver has been dominant after working with New York's pitching coach, Matt Blake, since coming to the team late in 2023.
Ian Hamilton had a rough stretch, but has been good overall as well. Kahnle likely will fit in either before or after Hamilton in the pecking order out of the bullpen.
It will be worth monitoring Kahnle's status after his rehab appearance on Sunday.
