Rob

Whalen

Whalen joined the Wild Things late last summer and logged seven relief appearances between the Frontier League’s regular season and postseason. The 28-year-old right-hander registered a 5.75 ERA and 27/15 K/BB ratio in 36 major league innings between 2016-2018.

Whalen was released by the Twins earlier this week after allowing 24 runs (23 earned) with a 19/15 K/BB ratio over 24 innings between Double-A Wichita and Triple-A St. Paul. The 27-year-old righty hasn’t appeared in the majors since the 2018 campaign.

He’s one of a bunch of cuts the Mets made on Thursday. Whalen, 26, sat out 2019 following a battle with depression and anxiety but had decided he wanted to play again in 2020, inking a minors deal with the Mets back in January.

Whalen announced his retirement from baseball last February, citing his battle with depression and anxiety as the reasons. However, he’s evidently decided to dust off his cleats and glove and give it another shot. Whalen, who turns 26 later this week, was originally drafted by the Mets.

Whalen turned just 25 last month, but he discussed in a post on Twitter that he’s battled depression and anxiety over the last two years and has decided it’s best for him to walk away from the game. We wish him well.

This was a big improvement over Whalen’s major league debut last week, as he struck out seven, walked one and gave up five hits. The 22-year-old figures to be shut down at some point since he’s already blown past his career high in innings, but the Braves will likely give him a handful more starts. He’ll face the Nationals this weekend.

Whalen might not have made it out of the first if not for the pitcher batting ninth, but he recovered nicely afterwards, turning in four scoreless innings to complete his outing. It was enough to earn himself another start, most likely. He’s not recommended in NL-only leagues at the moment.

Whalen will make his major league debut on Wednesday night against the Pirates. The 22-year-old right-hander had a 2.40 ERA, 1.19 WHIP, and 112/44 K/BB ratio in 120 innings (21 starts) this season between Double-A and Triple-A. He was acquired from the Mets last July in the Juan Uribe trade.

RotoGrinders.com Daily Slant: We’re not expecting him to have much success in this spot, and the 1-6 hitters are all in prime spots to take advantage of his inexperience. Adam Frazier is in the lineup tonight after a productive outing Tuesday, and he’ll be bumped up to the leadoff spot which makes him one of the better punt plays of the day. Polanco (.371 wOBA, .222 ISO vs. RHP) is one of the top plays overall in the outfield, with Marte (.378 wOBA, .163 ISO) not far behind in the ranks. Matt Joyce is in the lineup once again with Andrew McCutchen sitting for the second straight day, and Joyce is still far too cheap.

Whalen yielded just three hits and three walks in the start, but he wasn’t done any favors by a two-run error in the first inning. Even with the poor result, the start was still easily the best of the four Whalen has made this year. The right-hander has a 5.73 ERA and 1.18 WHIP in those four starts, with his next scheduled to come Tuesday against the Diamondbacks.

He’ll be making his major league debut. Whalen, acquired from the Mets last July in the Juan Uribe trade, has registered a 2.40 ERA, 1.19 WHIP, and 112/44 K/BB ratio in 120 innings (21 starts) this season between Double-A Mississippi and Triple-A Gwinnett. He might have some deep-league streaming appeal.