Yankees reliever Tommy Kahnle has been a rock out of the bullpen in 2019. He’s appeared in 35 games, and for the most part, he has been reliable. There is one red flag, however, when you look at his stat line: the amount of home runs he’s given up.
In his rookie year, Kahnle hurled 68.2 innings and yielded seven homers—the most he’s given up in a season. In 2019, he’s surrendered six long balls in 30.1 innings. This has resulted in a career-high 1.78 HR/9. So what’s the problem? Why is he giving up so many homers?