The day Mark DiFelice worked towards for over a decade finally came on Thursday May 15th, 2008 with his call-up to take David Riske's spot in the bullpen for the Brewers. This is the first time he will pitch in the majors, and if his minor league numbers translate at all he may be able to surprise a few people.
In AAA this year he struck out 28 in 23 innings pitched, while only walking one hitter. He has allowed 20 hits, so his WHIP is 0.91. Those numbers are strong, and lead one to believe that he's a bit better than the 3.91 ERA he posted. Allowing 3 homers in 23 innings is a problem, and he has had some off and on problems with the longball throughout his minor league career, so that will have to be watched.
Given the current state of the Brewers bullpen, there is room for someone to step up and make a name for themselves, possibly even as a closer, if they can get outs without giving up too many runs. That DiFelice strikes guys out, doesn't walk many batters and limits the number of hits he allows may make him the sort of guy who could come from nowhere and pitch at the back end of the bullpen, at least for a while. It's definitely a good opportunity for him to show what he can do in the majors.
We shall see.