New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone has not glossed over the work that one of his emergent bullpen arms has put in on the mound in recent weeks.
Aaron Boone praises reliever Michael Tonkin
Yankees reliever Michael Tonkin is having himself one of the best stretches of his career. Not only is he stoked about the quality performances he’s producing for the Yankees since May 30, but Boone is also, saying this recently, per SNY’s John Flanigan:
“He wants the ball,” manager Aaron Boone said. “He’s got a little edge to him on the mound, which I like, he seem to compete really well out there. He’s been able to spin his breaking ball whenever he wants, he’s using the sinker and the four-seamer, and he’s not afraid.”
“I think he’s done a really nice job for us, that’s back-to-back two ups, I didn’t really love that but he handled it well tonight when we were still playing catch up a little bit. He’s done a really nice job for us of carving out a role for himself.”
Tonkin has improved greatly in his last five games
After two strong outings to kick off the 2024 campaign as a member of the New York Mets, Tonkin dealt with ebbs and flows while working his way into form. From April 4 to May 26, the 34-year-old posted an ERA at or above 4.00 in six of 12 appearances, picking up a loss to the Detroit Tigers on April 4 and blowing a lead against the Milwaukee Brewers in his Yankees debut on April 26. However, the tide began to turn for Tonkin in New York’s 8-3 victory over the Los Angeles Angels on May 30.
The 6-7 righty finished that outing, allowing no hits or earned runs while 15 of his 22 total pitches in one inning of work were strikes. He’s taken his strike percentage from 62 percent over his first 14 games to 68 percent in his last five.
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Tonkin figures to be a valuable component to the Yankees’ World Series push
As Boone attested to, Tonkin is frequenting his sinker the most. Tonkin is throwing that pitch 54.4 percent of the time at an average of 92.8 mph, which is 9.7 mph faster than his next fastest pitch being his slider, which he’s throwing 39 percent of the time.
Its safe to say that the California native is happy to be in the Bronx after also seeing time with the New York Mets and Minnesota Twins for his first six games played in 2024. Boone and the Yankees are happy to have him as well. Without Jonathan Loaisiga for the rest of the year, Tonkin will be important for New York’s efforts moving forward. They’ll need him to keep up this hot streak to continue forging their World Series complexion on the year.