Baseball Prospectus

MLB Statistics

Statistics for All Levels

Plate Discipline

Preseason Long-Term Forecast (Beyond the 2019 Projections)

Comparable Players (Similarity Index 75)

Rank	Score	Name	Year	Run Average	Trend
1	86	Steve Cishek	2015	4.23
2	84	Al Alburquerque	2015	4.35
3	83	Boone Logan	2014	7.20
4	82	Jose Valverde	2007	2.94
5	82	Zach Putnam	2017	1.04
6	80	Fernando Rodney	2006	4.52
7	80	Frank Francisco	2009	3.83
8	80	Bill Bray	2012	5.19
9	80	Brian Wilson	2011	3.27
10	80	Vinnie Pestano	2014	3.86
11	80	Jason Frasor	2007	4.58
12	80	Jake Diekman	2016	3.74
13	80	Michael Gonzalez	2007	1.59
14	79	Neftali Feliz	2017	6.46
15	79	Luke Gregerson	2013	3.26
16	79	A.J. Ramos	2016	2.95
17	78	Jake McGee	2016	4.93
18	78	Jose Arredondo	2013	0.00	DNP
19	78	Neal Cotts	2009	7.36
20	78	Francisco Rodriguez	2011	2.76
21	77	Justin Grimm	2018	10.38
22	77	Fernando Salas	2014	3.38
23	76	Michael Wuertz	2008	4.63
24	76	Danny Farquhar	2016	3.82
25	76	David Aardsma	2011	0.00	DNP
26	76	Juan Cruz	2008	2.96
27	76	Pedro Baez	2017	3.38
28	76	Jonathan Broxton	2013	4.99
29	76	B.J. Ryan	2005	2.56
30	75	C.J. Wilson	2010	3.66
31	75	Hong-Chih Kuo	2011	9.67
32	75	Damaso Marte	2004	3.42
33	75	Drew Storen	2017	5.27
34	75	Nick Masset	2011	3.84
35	74	Aaron Loup	2017	4.21
36	74	Mike MacDougal	2006	1.55
37	74	Ryan Cook	2016	0.00	DNP
38	74	Luis Garcia	2016	6.46
39	74	Antonio Bastardo	2015	2.98
40	74	Cory Rasmus	2017	0.00	DNP
41	74	Will Ohman	2007	4.95
42	74	Jeff Nelson	1996	4.60
43	74	Brad Boxberger	2017	3.38
44	74	Mark Davis	1990	5.64
45	74	Rafael Soriano	2009	2.97
46	74	Dellin Betances	2017	3.02
47	73	Sean Doolittle	2016	3.23
48	73	Dan Wheeler	2007	5.79
49	73	Mike Dunn	2014	4.11
50	73	Jason Motte	2011	2.91
51	73	Derrick Turnbow	2007	4.76
52	73	Juan Oviedo	2011	4.20
53	73	Chris Resop	2012	4.28
54	73	Cody Allen	2018	4.70
55	73	Hunter Strickland	2018	4.96
56	73	Jeff Montgomery	1991	3.20
57	73	Jose Veras	2010	3.75
58	72	Duane Ward	1993	2.13
59	72	J.J. Hoover	2017	4.14
60	72	Brandon Gomes	2014	3.71
61	72	Kevin Jepsen	2014	2.63
62	72	Jim Kern	1978	3.26
63	72	Rich Gossage	1981	1.16
64	72	Santiago Casilla	2010	2.28
65	72	Brett Cecil	2016	4.17
66	72	Brad Brach	2015	2.84
67	72	Jesse Crain	2011	2.89
68	72	Paul Shuey	2000	3.68
69	72	David Carpenter	2015	4.74
70	71	Brandon League	2012	3.38
71	71	Jared Burton	2010	0.00
72	71	Brian Bruney	2011	6.86
73	71	Joba Chamberlain	2015	6.51
74	71	Scott Linebrink	2006	3.69
75	71	Jerry Blevins	2013	3.45
76	71	Dick Radatz	1966	5.35
77	71	Sparky Lyle	1974	2.53
78	71	Greg Holland	2015	4.03
79	71	Addison Reed	2018	4.82
80	71	Mark Wohlers	1999	27.00
81	70	Ryan Pressly	2018	2.66
82	70	Josh Osich	2018	8.25
83	70	John Axford	2012	5.45
84	70	Robb Nen	1999	4.48
85	70	Will Harris	2014	4.34
86	70	Lee Smith	1987	3.23
87	70	Ryan O'Rourke	2017	0.00	DNP
88	70	Kevin Quackenbush	2018	11.00
89	70	Mitch Stetter	2010	14.73
90	70	Rob Murphy	1989	3.34
91	70	Evan Meek	2012	6.75
92	70	Justin Wilson	2017	3.57
93	70	Jesse Orosco	1986	2.67
94	70	Mike Schooler	1992	5.05
95	70	John Grabow	2008	2.96
96	70	Mike Jackson	1994	1.70
97	70	Greg McMichael	1996	3.84
98	70	Bobby Parnell	2014	9.00
99	70	Leonel Campos	2017	3.95
100	69	Bill Campbell	1978	4.44

BP Annual Player Comments

Year		Comment
2019		Due to publishing agreements, the 2019 player comments and team essays are only available in the Baseball Prospectus 2019 book (available in hardcopy, and soon e-book and Kindle).
2018		Acquired at midseason from the White Sox in a deal that also netted the Yankees a reunion with David Robertson, Kahnle slid into a secondary setup role and made himself at home in a bullpen full of similarly huge strikeout rates. The biggest change for Kahnle last season was vastly improved control, which allowed his always outstanding raw stuff to take the forefront. Kahnle seemed to hit a wall late in the season, but he was acquired to be more than a second-half pickup and won't be eligible for free agency until after 2020.
2017		When you first think of Kahnle you might say "who?" when in reality it should be "The Who." (Tommy Kahnle hear me? Can you feel me near you?) Initially thought to be a bargain last offseason, Kahnle's walk rate makes you think the umpire's putting a squeeze box on him. Instead he rode the magic bus between Charlotte and Chicago, trying to be the seeker of the strike zone. Otherwise, he'll constantly change uniforms anyway, anyhow anywhere they choose. In conclusion ... pinball wizard.
2016		A year ago, Kahnle was a clear Rule 5 success, thriving in multi-inning stints to be, by Deserved Run Average, a top-30 reliever. Hitting cherries on a Rule 5er means the club is essentially playing with house money, but that didn't make Kahnle's step backward in 2015 any easier for the Rockies to stomach. He lost control of his four-seamer and all but junked his slider, forcing him to lean on a changeup and pitch backward—throwing, in one two-week stretch of August, 65 percent cambios. Batters walked against him at a Harper-ian rate, more than offsetting gains to his K and GB rates. Indeed, no pitcher with at least 30 innings had a worse walk rate than Kahnle, who was optioned back to Triple-A by the end of August and traded to Chicago in the winter.
2015		The Rockies selected Kahnle in the Rule 5 draft from the Yankees' system, where he closed for Double-A Trenton. For his first major-league game, they thrust him into a two-on, one-out jam created by Franklin Morales. That was the first of many multi-inning appearances for Kahnle, who averaged 1.7 innings per game in the minor leagues. By the All-Star break, he trailed only Dellin Betances in bullpen appearances of more than three outs, and had pitched the fourth-most relief innings in the league, all with a .208 TAv against. Kahnle relies on a mid-90s fastball, mid-80s slider, and hard changeup, the latter especially good against lefties. He struggles with command and had a poor second half, but Kahnle, at least for 2014, can be declared a Rule 5 success.
2012		Reliever Tommy Kahnle can get his fastball into the high 90s, leading to a career 12.7 strikeouts per nine innings and just one home run allowed in 97 innings, but his mechanics and command await refinement.

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PITCHf/x Pitcher Profile

A Collaboration between BrooksBaseball.net and Baseball Prospectus - Pitch classifications provided by Pitch Info LLC

Tommy Kahnle has thrown 7,095 pitches that have been tracked by the PITCHf/x system between 2014 and 2024, all of them occuring in Spring Training. In 2024, he has relied primarily on his Change (87mph), also mixing in a Fourseam Fastball (94mph) and Slider (86mph). He also rarely throws a Sinker (93mph).