Joe Girardi revealed his rotation today, stating that it would go Sabathia, Wang, Burnett, Pettitte, and Chamberlain. This seems like the right move, as he alternates his power type guys with his guys that depend more on breaking stuff, thereby giving teams different looks in a three game series no matter how the pitching matchups fall out. Girardi added that Joba Chamberlain is expected to make about 30 starts, provided that he stays healthy. That would blow past any projections that have been made about Joba’s usage, as well as any safeguards that many expected the club to implement after Joba tossed only 100 innings last season. I hope that this is just Girardi being overly optimistic, and that the Yankees have a plan to keep Joba at no higher than 140 innings going into the postseason. Homegrown aces are a rare commodity, and the Yankees would be not be doing themselves any favors by playing chicken with Chamberlain’s health.
(h/t Pete Abe)
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6 Responses to Girardi: Joba To Make Roughly 30 Starts
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Totally disagree about a hope that it’s Girardi’s optimism.
Joba should be able to handle 170 innings without any worry of breaking the Verducci line as long as his pitchcount and off days are handled correctly.
They could even limit him to 150 innings by simply throwing him 5+ innings per start if they so chose, but I’d advocate a cap of 170 innings and think Chamberlain can handle it.
I agree. Cap his appearances at 5/game at least at the beginning of the season and see how things go. Might be another reason to have Coke on the roster, depending on how they use Aceves or Geise.
Also, with the rotation set it separates the righty/lefty pitchers nicely, as well as the power pitchers vs “soft toss” pitchers. I think its a great rotation all around.
The way to handle Joba with this inning limit is to observe Joba start by start, and hope that Joba is completely honest with the Yankees, if his arm is sore or he can’t pitch anymore during a game. I am for Joba starting 30 times as long as the Yankees remain diligent and make sure he doesn’t put himself in danger of injuring his arm/shoulder.
Overall I like the rotation as it separates the power pitchers and the lefties giving teams different looks when they face the Yankees:
First game, power Lefty
Second game, finesse Righty
Third Game, power righty
Each one shows something different whether it is throwing with a different arm, or throwing a different repertoire. I can’t wait for the regular season to start as I am excited to C.C., Burnett, and Joba in the Yankees rotation and no where else.
This should shut up the old-school whiners who say “Y R they limiting his innings?! Just let tha kid pitch!!!” Problem is, these are the same ppl, who, when Joba will inevitably break down at the end of this season or the beginning of next as a result of his increased workload, go “WE TOLD U HE CAN’T HANDLE A STARTER’S LOAD!!! JOBA HAS TO BE IN THA PEN!!!”
The “Verducci effect” has been proven over and over again. And I really don’t like the idea of the Yanks disregarding it completely, especially with a kid who hasn’t thrown a full season as a starter yet.
Here’s a question for U ppl: Y doesn’t anybody in baseball have the guts to employ a 6-man rotation. In the NFL, ppl R always coming up with new strategies and schemes. In baseball, managers are scared to death to change the standard stuff aceepted to be a rule in the sport. Take for example the closer’s role. Y are the 6-7-8 inn less important than the 9th?! U pitch scrap-heap guys in the middle innings, and save your best reliever for the last inning?! Y?! If U have 2 guys on with 1 out in the 7th, then have the guts to bring in your best reliever to nail down 2 outs right then and there. then bring in a less-accomplished reliever to start the 8th or 9th with nobody on base and hope to get 3 outs.
If the Yanks would have any guts, they’d have a 6th pitcher in Hughes. That way, they limit CC’s workload (Dude has pitched over 500 inn over the last 2 seasons, & a liitle caution won’t hurt), Limit AJ (always an injury concern), limit Wang (also coming off an injury), don’t rely on Pettitte as much, limit Joba’s innings, let Hughes slowly build up some confidence, & it keeps everybody fresh overall.
I don’t have to worry about Hughes not getting a nice amount of starts over the course of the season, as it’s wishfull thinking that the whole rotation will stay heathly over the course of the full season.
It just baffles me Y managers in baseball have to stick to these same old standards instead of mixing it up a little. Tony “DWI-Head / The Most Over-Rated Manager-Coach in Sports History” La Russa bats his pitcher 8th for a change, and the media goes nuts. Just baffles the mind.
I dont know if I love that idea. It means your best pitchers pitch less, something that I am not so comfortable with. The pitchers are also used to this system.
A few things, if I may!
Joba; cutting him down to 5 innings is bad news…how can a pitcher have enough arm to go 6 or 7 innings if you keep shutting him down after 5? If one wants him to go more then 140 innings…watch how each inning goes. If he blew through the line-up (a couple innings) count them as 1/2. Let’s face it, an inning of 20+ pitches with men on etc., is more taxing then one of only 9/12.
Back a few years there were 4 man rotations and every starter had 35/40+ starts, now it is down to 30/35…cut it down anymore and you could use long relievers as your starting pitchers! Ok, maybe not.