Yehl could be key piece in WVU’s revamped bullpen next season
West Virginia baseball clearly needed more bullpen options down the stretch last season. The WVU bullpen struggled over the last few weeks of the regular season, as well as throughout the postseason.
West Virginia has targeted a lot of pitchers in the transfer portal, but another pitcher they are adding has been hiding in plain sight — Maxx Yehl.
Yehl missed last season as he recovered from Tommy John surgery, but he has proven that he can be a reliable option out of the bullpen for the Mountaineers. In two seasons, Yehl totaled 57.1 innings in 41 appearances, posting a 3.77 ERA over the two-year stretch.
Yehl was likely to be relied upon in a big way last for WVU, but his injury obviously derailed those plans.
Yehl has the ability to tally up strikeouts, as he stands at 6-foot-6, giving opposing hitters an uncomfortable at-bat. Yehl also has some experience closing games, something that WVU struggled to do in the last few weeks of the season.
One of the better things about Yehl is his ability to come into the game with runners on base and get out of it because of his ability to get groundball outs. He’s posted a 41.7 percent groundball rate during his two seasons at WVU. Yehl has also been able to relatively keep the ball in the yard, as he’s allowed six home runs out of his 49 hits allowed.
In total, West Virginia has added seven pitchers from the transfer portal, including three left-handed pitchers. This past season, that was an issue for the Mountaineers as besides Ben McDougal, there were not many reliable options out of the bullpen from the left side. Yehl not only gives WVU another left-handed arm, but he’s also a proven piece, something the Mountaineers have focused on adding this offseason.
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