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ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. What Stephen Tarpley, calling in September to the Yankees, had in mind for this first opportunity in the league was to "get wet".
The 25-year-old leftist reliever planned to take advantage of all the incredible knowledge that would come from spending a month in one of the best baseballs. He also hoped to participate in a few games and make a good impression.
Entering the lineup of the Yankees was not even in Tarpley's mind before his disastrous debut, let alone after.
A few weeks and some very good outings later, Tarpley is a competitor.
"He launches into the conversation," Yankees manager Aaron Boone said Tuesday after Tarpley faced off against two left-handers and retired in the seventh inning of a 9-2 win over the United States. Tampa Bay Rays.
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His last outing was a continuation of a series of games in which he was called on to face left-handers.
A day after joining the Yankees on September 1, the 6-foot-1, 235-pounder played his first game and allowed three in the ninth game, an 11-7 loss to the Detroit Tigers at Yankee Stadium.
Because Tarpley had a lot of success this season beating Double-A and Triple-A, especially against left-handers, the Yankees wanted to see more.
Seven other outings later, Tarpley did not give up another race. Tarpley faced 12 left-handers and 10 retirees while allowing a shot and a walk.
"The more I'm going to throw, the more comfortable I feel," said Tarpley, who has made 5 bleached innings in his last seven appearances to lower his ERA to 4.05.
Here are some examples of releases on his league resume:
– He faced three left-handers and pulled them all out Monday night with a 1-2-3 run when the Yankees used eight stints in a 4-1 victory over Tampa Bay.
– He launched three Red Sox in the ninth round of a loss of 9-6 last Thursday, all lefties, and two retirees. He walked Brock Holt, but then impressively hit Rafael Devers and Mitch Moreland.
– He started the eighth round of a 10-8 win over Baltimore last Friday, then left after knocking out the first batter, beating left-handed Chris Davis.
"He obviously struggled for his first big league appearance, but since then he's really found it and it's a problem for left-handed hitters," said Boone. "It beats the area very hard, this lead combined with the slider makes things more difficult for left – handers, which is why it has somehow been on our radar this year in the minor leagues with the kind of ''. year that he had. "
Tarpley started the season 5-0 with a 1.26 ERA in 19 games with Double-A's Trenton, then 2-2 with an ERA of 2.65 in 17 games following a June 29 promotion to Triple- AT.
Tarpley is not a young man at 25 and the Yankees are his third pro organization. A Baltimore Orioles third round pick in 2013, he was traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates in January 2016 for outfielder Travis Snider, then joined the Yankees in August 2016 with fielder Tito Polo for pitcher Ivan Nova.
Two years later, Tarpley is a great Leaguer who makes the Yankees think about his maintenance in series.
"It's great," Tarpley said. "It's something I dreamed about, but I can not surprise him, I have to keep doing what I do.
"I have to continue on there, and if it's the occasion I'm going to have in a week or two, I just have to be ready for that and not play too much."
Randy Miller can be contacted at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @RandyJMiller. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
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