The Yankees have agreed to a cope with right-hander Tyler Duffey, reviews Jon Heyman of the New York Put up (Twitter link). As long as it’s finalized/official previous to midnight, he’d be eligible for his or her postseason roster. Duffey, a consumer of the Ballengee Group, opted out of a minor league cope with the Rangers earlier this week.
It’s been a tricky season for Duffey, who was launched by the Twins — the one group he’d recognized to that time in his profession — earlier this summer time. As soon as a standout setup man in Minnesota, the place he pitched to a 2.31 ERA with a 34.2% strikeout price in opposition to only a 6.1% stroll price in 81 2/3 innings from 2019-20, Duffey noticed his outcomes take a step again in 2021 earlier than they utterly cratered in 2022.
Duffey, 31, nonetheless notched a tidy 3.18 ERA in ’21 however did so with diminished velocity and strikeout/stroll charges that aggressively trended within the flawed route (24% and 11%, respectively). Issues unraveled solely this season, as Duffey was hammered for a 4.91 ERA and allowed a median of 1.64 homers per 9 innings pitched, dropping a high-leverage spot with the Twins and primarily being relegated to lower-leverage work previous to being lower unfastened.
This yr’s 92.3 mph common fastball velocity is Duffey’s lowest since he grew to become a full-time reliever, and his 21.1% strikeout price is his lowest mark since 2018. To Duffey’s credit score, each his 11.1% swinging-strike price and 32.4% opponents’ chase price on pitches off the plate are each proper in keeping with the 2022 league averages. He’s struggled, nonetheless, to get forward in counts and has paid the value for it; at his peak, Duffey threw a first-pitch strike to only shy of 68% of his opponents. He’s performed so at only a 60% clip in 2022 — the worst full-season mark of his profession. Working behind within the rely greater than ever earlier than whereas pitching with a fastball that’s down almost two miles per hour from its 2019 peak hasn’t been a recipe for achievement.
Extra to return.