Biography
Thomas Robert Kahnle (born August 7, 1989) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has also played in MLB for the Colorado Rockies and the Chicago White Sox.
Career
Kahnle played high school baseball at Shaker High School in Latham, New York, and college baseball at Lynn University in Boca Raton, Florida. In 2009, he played collegiate summer baseball with the Orleans Firebirds of the Cape Cod Baseball League, and returned to the league in 2010, splitting his time between the Bourne Braves and the Brewster Whitecaps.
New York Yankees
He was drafted by the New York Yankees in the fifth round of the 2010 Major League Baseball draft.Kahnle made his professional debut for the Staten Island Yankees in 2010. He appeared in 11 games and had a 0.56 earned run average and 25 strikeouts over 16 innings pitched. He played for the Charleston RiverDogs in 2011, recording a 4.22 ERA and 112 strikeouts over 81 innings. He spent the 2012 season between the Tampa Yankees and Trenton Thunder. He had a 2.37 ERA with 74 strikeouts in 57 innings. The Yankees invited Kahnle to spring training in 2013. He was an Eastern League All-Star in 2013 and finished the season with a 2.85 ERA and 74 strikeouts over 60 innings.
Colorado Rockies
The Colorado Rockies selected Kahnle from the Yankees in the 2013 Rule 5 Draft. He opened the 2014 season on the Rockies' Opening Day roster, and made his major league debut on April 3. He would finish the season appearing in 54 games with a 4.19 ERA in 68-plus innings. The following season, Kahnle spent half the season in the minors, only appearing in 36 games for the Rockies while recording two saves. Kahnle was designated for assignment following the 2015 season.
Chicago White Sox
He was then traded to the Chicago White Sox for Yency Almonte on November 24, 2015. In his first season with the White Sox, Kahnle appeared in 29 games and lowered his ERA to 2.63. Through the first half of the 2017 season, Kahnle was enjoying a career year, posting a 2.50 ERA while striking out 60 batters in just 36 innings and lowering his walk rate from the previous three seasons.
Return to Yankees
On July 18, 2017, the White Sox traded Kahnle, Todd Frazier, and David Robertson to the New York Yankees for Blake Rutherford, Tyler Clippard, Ian Clarkin, and Tito Polo. On August 24, 2017, Kahnle was ejected for the first time in his career after throwing a pitch behind Miguel Cabrera, leading up to Joe Girardi's ejection and an altercation between Austin Romine and Cabrera, triggering a bench-clearing brawl. On June 4, 2018, the Yankees optioned Kahnle to their Triple-A affiliate, the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders, as Adam Warren was activated from the 10-day disabled list. Kahnle was recalled from the RailRiders on August 16 and recorded his first save of the 2018 season on August 21 against the Miami Marlins, replacing Aroldis Chapman in the top of the 12th inning after Chapman was removed due to knee pain. In 2018, Kahnle posted a 6.56 ERA in 24 games for the New York Yankees.In 2019, Kahnle was awarded the reliever of the month for the American League in the month of July 2019. He posted a 0.77 ERA in 12 games in July, striking out 17 batters while not surrendering a homer. He allowed just one run and five hits, walking two batters.