After his recent beatdown at the hands of the Jays, Joba Chamberlain made comments that bothered some Yankees fans in their nonchalance. Following another poor performance against the Angels, some new comments were uttered:
“This is just a good team and they put a lot of pressure on you,” he said…..
“To tell the truth, I feel better right now than I’ve felt the whole season, as far as the command of my pitches and the way my fastball is sinking,” he said. “I’ve just got to keep going out and keep pitching. It’s not like I haven’t gone through horrible stretches in my career.”
Summer School dvdrip How dare he say such ridiculous things!! Why isn’t he throwing things against the clubhouse wall? He is just an overhyped kid with an attitude problem! Oh wait, Joba did not make those comments?
That is what Andy Pettitte said after his most recent outing. Joba said the following:
“It’s frustrating. I’m letting my teammates down. It’s kind of embarrassing, too,” he said. “At the end of the day, we have the second half (of the season) to get better. You can’t change the past.”
But there is also some denial. If you listen to his postgame interview session, Joba says three times that his stuff and mechanics in the last two starts were the best he has had this season.
“If I had an answer for you, it would probably be a lot easier,” he said. “I felt I’ve been better in the last two but we came up against some good ball clubs. They hit mistakes and that is what they’re supposed to do.”
“You have to work your tail off,” Chamberlain said. “But the sun will come out tomorrow. I’ll be the same person I was before.”
It is amazing how similar the two quotes are. Both players express frustration with their performances, but state that their stuff is as good as it has been all year. Both tip their cap to the opposition while acknowledging that they need to work to find a solution. Yet Andy’s comments are treated as innocuous statements while Joba is vilified for “being in denial.”
Joba is not in denial. It is perfectly consistent to state that his stuff has been better the last two games while pointing out that he has made more mistakes, leading to his getting smacked around. He is being perfectly candid and getting ripped for it. He would be better off going to the standard canned quotes used by Derek Jeter, because some fans and most of the writers cannot deal with anything that does not fit their idea of how a ballplayer should react to a poor performance.
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5 Responses to Joba's Comments Being Blown Out Of Proportion
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TIQ IQ
Or is Pettitte perhaps in denial himself?
In Andy’s last four outings, he’s pitched 21 innings, allowed 25 hits, 11 walks (WHIP = 1.71), and 17 runs (7.29 ERA). If that’s the best he’s felt this season, I am concerned about his ability going forward.
Joba has made two mistakes:
1) he plays for the Yankees
2) he’s doing well as a starter after the writers said he belonged in the BP.
Most sportswriters feel it’s their duty to be sure we don’t forget players who make mistakes like those. Expect more of the same until they have another pitcher on the Yankees to rip. (Position players are well represented by Arod, who made the biggest mistake of all: he got a record-setting contract after the writers said he wasn’t going to get anywhere near what he wanted.)
“amazing how similar”? Those two quotes are nothing alike. The bottom line is Andy is old and Joba needs to spend time in the minors to figure out what he is doing wrong. The problem is this team is built to win a world series this year.
Right now, however, they wont. After Burnette, the rotation in its current state is garbage. This isnt a “go out and get Halladay and get raped by Richiardi rant” BUT, there is no question that we need go get another arm for the rotation. Or we will once again fall by the wayside to Boston, despite having most the moving parts to win a series.
Firstly, the quotes are very similar. Both players tipped their caps, said they had great stuff, and said they were frustrated.
In regard to Boston, the back of their rotation scares no one.
Watching Joba in the beginning of his last two starts, I would agree with him. He had the sharpest, nastiest bite to his pitches since his 8-inning game a ways back. Then everything went in the garbage can. In both games, the Yankees put up several runs and left Joba in the dugout for a long time (albeit with a lead when he came out).
Could it be the time spent inactive? If so, it would be similar to his not being able to start out well — a problem he had earlier in the year. Preparation and mental toughness are Joba’s biggest issues. The fact that he’s been cracking under pressure would support this idea. He can’t just rely on his natural ability; big league players are too god, and they’ve made their adjustments to him.