Yankees pitcher Chase Whitley to undergo Tommy John surgery

New York Yankees right-handed pitcher Chase Whitley will undergo Tommy John surgery tomorrow with team physician Chis Ahmad, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports:

Source: Chase Whitley scheduled to undergo Tommy John surgery tomorrow with #Yankees physician Chris Ahmad.

— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) May 18, 2015

Whitley made four starts in 2015, his second major league season, and posted a 4.19 ERA and 1.29 WHIP in 19⅓ innings, walking five and striking out 16.

In his first major league season last year, he made 24 appearances, 12 of which were starts, with a 5.23 ERA and 1.48 WHIP in 75⅔ innings with 18 walks and 60 strikeouts.

Taking Whitley's  place in the rotation is 36-year-old lefty Chris Capuano, who allowed for runs on four hits with a walk and two strikeouts over three innings in his first big league start of the season Sunday. He had a 2.53 ERA in 10⅔ innings with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre this season.

Capuano made a dozen starts for the Yankees last year, posting a 4.25 ERA in 65⅔ innings, walking 19 and striking out 55. Prior to joining the Yankees midseason in 2014, he made 28 relief appearances for the Red Sox, with a 4.55 ERA in 31⅔ innings with 15 walks and 29 strikeouts.

Losing Whitley, especialy when combined with not having Masahiro Tanaka for the time being, stretches the Yankees' starting pitching depth by quite a bit, with 24-year-old Bryan Mitchell likely the next man up in the rotation should a starter go down prior to Tanaka's return.

Mitchell, a right-hander, made his major league debut with the Yankees last season, with an ERA of 2.45 in 11 innings, including a start and a pair of relief appearances. He has a 4.26 ERA in 31⅔ innings with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre this season, with 15 walks and 27 strikeouts.