Kirby Yates making most of opportunity with Padres

July 4, 2017 5:15 PM PT

Cleveland —

Last April, the Padres claimed a reliever off waivers from the Marlins and saw him become a focal point of their bullpen. Today, that reliever, Brad Hand, is a first-time All-Star.

This April, the Padres claimed a reliever off waivers from the Angels. A little more than two months later, Kirby Yates, like Hand, has found unprecedented success with San Diego.

“Kirby’s on that path,” manager Andy Green said. “Is he to the point that Brad is? No, he’s not, but he’s thrown the ball exceptionally well.”

At the time of his acquisition, Yates, 30, was more of an unknown than Hand had been. The 5-foot-10 journeyman had gone undrafted in 2009, signed with Tampa Bay, reached the majors as a 27-year-old, been traded to Cleveland, been traded to the Yankees just weeks later and been claimed off waivers by the Angels. He made only one cameo in Anaheim this season before the Padres took a flyer on him.

So far, it has looked like another astute pickup. Yates entered Tuesday with a 2.08 ERA and a 41-to-8 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 27 appearances for San Diego. Among major relievers who had worked at least 20 innings, the right-hander ranked ninth in strikeouts-per-nine, fourth-lowest in contact percentage inside the strike zone and fourth in swinging-strike percentage. In each of the latter two categories, he was not far behind the majors’ most dominant bullpen arm, Boston’s Craig Kimbrel.

“Execution of everything has been pretty key,” Yates said. “I’ve made a lot of really good pitches. I’ve left a few pitches over the plate that have been hit, but for the most part I’ve been able to stay out of the middle of the plate with the majority of my stuff.”

Yates’ modest stature can be deceiving. His average fastball velocity this season is 94.2 mph, according to FanGraphs. He also wields a slider and a splitter, which he began throwing this spring.

“I just felt like the last few years, every time I’d run into trouble with the slider, I’d get hit hard,” said Yates, who has scrapped his change-up in favor of the splitter. “So I needed another weapon to complement the slider ... and vice versa, to keep them off my fastball.

“(The splitter has) become, to me, a lot easier than throwing a change-up, because the change-up’s kind of like a finesse pitch. Whereas a splitter, you’ve kind of got to get through it and it’s like a hard pitch. I can just grip it and throw it like a fastball.”

Still, Yates has leaned on his heater, which, combined with an unusually short arm stroke, tends to get on batters in a hurry. Through Monday, right-handed opponents were hitting .213 and slugging just .297 against Yates’ fastball, according to BrooksBaseball.net.

“Some of the guys we’ve talked to about using more offspeed pitches,” Green said. “We’ve talked to him about using his fastball more and trusting his split more against right-handed guys. Talked to him about pitching to more quadrants of the zone. He’s responded well.

“He’s seen this as an opportunity, and he’s taking advantage of it, and he’s pitching in more and more pivotal roles because of it.”

For Yates, sustaining his newfound effectiveness is the next step.

“I’ve had pretty good half-years and months in the big leagues,” Yates said. “The problem is, I haven’t put together a (full) season.

“The goal is to keep this going all the way through September, till the end of the year. There’s going to be probably a point in the season where I’m going to have to adjust a little bit and do some different things, but I like where I’m at. I love the way I’m throwing the ball, the ball’s going where I want it to go, and that’s all you can ask for.”

Worth watching

The Padres continue to monitor the progress of right-hander Carter Capps, who is nearly 16 months removed from Tommy John surgery. Entering Tuesday, the reliever had a 3.60 ERA and a 13/8 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 15 innings with Triple-A El Paso.

“He’s throwing the ball well in Triple-A right now,” Green said. “Still believe that, before this thing is said and done, he’s going to be a big part of our bullpen.”

Capps was pulled from a rehab assignment early this season to iron out a delivery that remains controversial. In March, Major League Baseball clarified Rule 5.07, stipulating that a pitcher “may not take a second step toward home plate with either foot or otherwise reset his pivot foot in his delivery of the pitch.”

On June 25, during a game at Albuquerque, Capps was called for two illegal pitches.

“We hope it’s an isolated incident,” Green said. “I’ve talked to (El Paso manager Rod Barajas) about it a few times, and I think the difficulty is it’s subject to interpretation. … And that’s the frustrating part for Carter: What is legal? What am I being called for? What am I not being called for? That’s been a challenge for him, and there was one umpire that clearly felt compelled to call it.”

D’Arnaud designated

With right-hander Trevor Cahill coming off the disabled list to start Tuesday’s game, the Padres designated utility man Chase d’Arnaud for assignment.

D’Arnaud, 30, was claimed off waivers from the Red Sox on May 21. In 22 games with the Padres, he hit .143 (7-for-49) with one home run and five steals. He made eight starts at shortstop, two at third base and one at second.

Notable

Outfielder Travis Jankowski, who is recovering from a fracture in his right foot, is running and hitting off the tee at the Padres’ spring-training facility in Peoria, Ariz.

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