The New York Yankees pounced quickly after Joel Kuhnel left the Philadelphia Phillies' organization.

Kuhnel was released Thursday and signed with the Yankees by the end of Friday. Given that he didn't have to pass through waivers, it appears Kuhnel opted-out of his contract after the Phillies didn't call him up from Triple-A.

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The 30-year old Kuhnel has been very solid at Triple-A this season, with a 3.62 ERA, a miniscule 3.1% walk rate and a 66.3% groundball rate.

Kuhnel has pitched in the major leagues for 93.2 innings in his career across five seasons, with the Reds, Astros and Rays.

The 6-foot-5, 290-pound Kuhnel was an 11th-round pick by the Reds in 2016 out of UT-Arlington.

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He will make the short move from Lehigh Valley to the Yankees' Triple-A affiliate, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

From there, Kuhnel will try to show his groundball-heavy recipe can continue to work.

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And if the Yankees need another MLB arm, they know they can call on Kuhnel's experience to get the job done in the pinch.