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Yankees' Chase Whitley staying focused

Brian Heyman
bheyman@lohud.com

Yankees third baseman Kelly Johnson waits for the throw from left field as the Blue Jays' Munenori Kawasaki slides into third with a ninth-inning triple off closer David Robertson in the Blue Jays' 3-1 loss Tuesday night.

NEW YORK – Chase Whitley will stand out there on the mound in his pinstripes at Yankee Stadium Wednesday night facing the most power-packed lineup in the majors, the one belonging to the AL East-leading Toronto Blue Jays.

But the Yankees' impressive 25-year-old rookie righty doesn't figure to be intimidated staring in at the likes of Edwin Encarnacion and Jose Bautista, a 35-homer tandem for a 92-homer team heading into the series opener Tuesday night.

"Just go in like another start," Whitley said. "Attack the strike zone. Just go out and pitch when they tell me to pitch and go out and compete."

His straightforward plan of attack has worked so far. This fill-in in a rotation rocked by injuries has held up his end since coming up from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on May 15. The converted reliever is 2-0 with a 2.41 ERA in six starts.

So what's all this been like for Whitley?

"It's a miraculous blessing from the Lord," Whitley said. "That's the only way I can explain it. … It's the big leagues, man. I've been training for this my entire life."

In each of his last three starts, Whitley has gone at least five innings, allowed five hits or less and walked none.

"Chase has been good," CC Sabathia said with the view from the disabled list.

The last two times out, Whitley has gone at least seven and won. Overall, he has struck out 24 while walking just three and hitting three in 332/3 innings. He hasn't walked a batter in the last four starts, the longest streak right now in the majors. And he hasn't walked any of the last 114 batters he has faced.

"He's been extremely important," Joe Girardi said. "I think he's been successful because of his ability to mix pitches and the location he has had on all of his pitches.

"Not getting behind, being aggressive, not throwing a lot of pitches per inning has helped him bounce back, because you've got to remember that this is a guy that's never thrown maybe more than 95 innings in a season because he's been a reliever most of the time."

After being selected out of Troy University in the 15th round of the 2010 draft, the 6-foot-3 native of Alabama appeared in 115 games over his first three minor-league seasons, 112 in relief. Last year, he got five starts in 29 outings at Triple-A, finishing the season in the rotation.

"It's been difficult," Whitley said of the conversion, "but at the same time, it's been a really fun experience. It's a challenge. But even in the minor leagues when I was a reliever, I was going multiple innings a lot."

His "I belong" moment really came with his first start on his first day in the majors, a 42/3-inning outing against the Mets at Citi Field that came with no runs and two hits allowed.

"Everyone says whenever you get called up, every guy that has been here before says, 'It's the same game. It's the same game. Don't let it get too fast,' " Whitley said. "To be able to do that in the first outing, I think that just kind of allowed me to keep going forward."

Twitter: @bheyman99