Many members of the NY media believe that Joba Chamberlain belongs in the bullpen, and Joba’s slow start to spring training helped them make their argument. When he turned in a good outing against the Reds, it seemed likely that the Joba to the pen crowd would go silent for a few days. However, nothing can stop the misguided efforts of Bob Klapisch:
But is Joba’s mini-crisis really over? Of the 29 pitches he threw, Reds’ hitters swung and missed just once – and made contact every time they sized up Chamberlain’s famed four-seam fastball….Obviously, it’s still early in spring training. Chamberlain has plenty of time to build arm strength. But he’s not the pitcher he was in 2008; even while blanking the Reds, something seemed amiss.
“I didn’t see the same explosiveness out of his hand, and I’m factoring in that it’s March,” said one talent evaluator. Remember, this is the same reliever-turned-starter who was injured not once, but twice last year, including the final week of the season.
Clearly, Chamberlain isn’t the horse the Yankees projected while he was crushing the competition in the minor leagues. Joba might have the unbreakable mentality of a latter-day Goose Gossage, but he’s fragile. His violent delivery ends with a stiff front leg — a recipe for long-term trouble that’s already reared its head. It’s a mechanical flaw Chamberlain will spend the rest of his career trying to fix.
The Yankees would be wise to ask themselves: at what cost will Joba reach his 150-inning limit this year? Given his history of arm trouble, who’s to say Chamberlain can again withstand seven innings of work every fifth day? Who can assure the Bombers that his air-it-out, closer’s mentality didn’t wear him down by September?
GM Brian Cashman and Joe Girardi should consider the possibility that Chamberlain’s 80 innings in the pen might be more valuable than 150 innings in the rotation. His outings will be shorter, more explosive, and he’ll only pitch when it’s critical.
So Klapisch takes a solid performance and disparages it by quoting an anonymous scout on Joba’s mechanics, and deciding, at this early stage, that Joba is not the same pitcher he was in 2008. Klapisch also manages to fit all of the analytical errors made by the Joba as reliever crowd into those last two sentences. There is no way that 80 innings can be more important than 150 innings. You want your best pitchers to throw as many frames as possible, a concept that seems foreign to any writer born prior to 1980.
Furthermore, the idea that he will only pitch important innings is ridiculous. Relievers often are used in 3-4 run games, as well as in blowouts just to get some work. Starters throw just as many high leverage innings as relievers, if not more. For example, Andy Pettitte faced a few more batters in high leverage situations than Mariano Rivera in 2008, and 9 times as many hitters in medium leverage situations than Mo. Relievers are dependent on the context of the situation in which they are placed, while starters almost always enter a tie game.
However you slice it, Joba needs to be given every chance to stay in the rotation. If he shows that he cannot succeed in that role, he can always be moved into the bullpen at a later time.
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8 Responses to Klapisch: Joba To Pen The Right Move
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TIQ IQ
I think the biggest argument against moving him to the pen is simply that there is no room for him in the pen. If he pitches the 8th inning then that moves Bruney and Marte, two pitchers who are both capable to pitch the 8th inning, to the 7th inning. That also turns Veras, Ramirez, and Coke, three pitchers very capable of being 7th inning guys, into mop-up guys. At that point Albaladejo, Robertson and Melancon are all blocked when they are ready for the majors.
I dont mind blocking them with someone significantly better. The best thing for team is most important. Long term, the best thing is to have him starting, so what it does to the pen, either way , is moot
Seriously, do any of these guys understand that there are statistics beyond ERA and strikeouts? If Joba’s blow-em out closer’s mentality doesn’t fit in the starting rotation, then Roger Clemens should definitely have been a closer. Those Red Sox, Blue Jay, Yankee and Astro teams were all stupid for missing it. Don’t even get me started on Randy Johnson, can you imagine how good his stuff would have been out of the pen?!?!?!???!!!
Sometimes I think that these sportswriters are just so dumb and so lacking in creativity, that they honestly have no room in their brains except for the same 4 or 5 stories that keep circulating. Maybe it’s the editors, not the writers. Whoever it is, it’s moronic. A #1 starter is the most valuable commodity in baseball. Only a complete idiot would relegate a near surefire #1 starter to the pen without giving him every possible chance to stay healthy as a starter. It feels like a conspiracy of dunces is keeping this story alive.
It’s a shame the beanball Klapisch took to the head didn’t knock any sense into him.
That about sums up my feelings on 99% of the sporting press. It’s astonishing that anyone pays any attention to these knuckleheads at all, but a lot of folks think what they say is gospel.
I second that. The lack of originality is incredible. How is it that bloggers can take one sentence in these articles and expound on them, and these guys cannot come up with an original thought without the help of a “person.”
Am I to late (again)?
I’d like to play Devils Idiot;….
Didn’t Joba get shut down last year (oops) 2007, for a few days because of a tired arm? Wasn’t he in the BP at the time?
Has anyone had the thought; He may not have been at the right playing weight (for his legs)?
OK, done with stupid stuff but, some of it could be a clue….weight for legs!?!?!
When a pitcher gets tired legs, (or carries to much weight for legs) he puts more pressure on his arm (shoulder)…guess what? When that happens they shut you down and let your legs catch up. One should remember the way Tom Sever pitched “Drop and Drive” (I always liked that), he and Kaat use to say they always were ready when they got their legs under them.
LEGS are one of the most important part of a pitcher.