The Emergence of David Phelps

Fear the Phelps

The Emergence of David Phelps has been an important piece of the Yankees success this year as he has been able to bounce between the rotation and the bullpen and more importantly have success in both. As a starter he has pitched to a 3.81 ERA in 10 starts with his best start coming in the double header against the Blue Jays in which he pitched 6.2 innings of one run ball and struck out 6, in fact he has struck out 6 or more in four of his ten starts. Even more impressive may be his success coming out of the bullpen where he has a 2.50 Era over 40 innings and a impressive 41-11 strike out to walk rate.
Phelps story is even better because most people had Phelps behind Adam Warren, both as a prospect and on the pitching depth chart, likely due to his injury last season June. If you don't remember Phelps was going to make a spot start for the Yankees, but they instead signed Brian Gordon who made two starts before heading to play to Korea. Phelps was not even expected to make the active roster out of spring training, but he beat out Adam Warren and D.J Mitchell for the long relief spot after Freddy Garcia had to move to the rotation.
I don't know if it is somehow different from his previous approach but Phelps has been getting accolades for consistently pounding the strike zone, especially in relief where he has been needed due to the Yankees failure to acquire a quality middle reliever after Mariano Rivera's injury. However the  upside that Phelps has shown as a starter is one the Yankees will undoubtedly want to take advantage of as they try and rein in their spending. Phelps could be very critical next year as he may very well have a rotation spot, wither for the year or until Michael Pineda recovers from his injury. All in all the future is bright for David Phelps as a New York Yankee.