Last night, we saw Joba Chamberlain pitch in the seventh and eighth innings. His velocity was not what we expected.
Riffing off of Chris’s post, I think it’s quite possible that Joba’s fastball will never sit 95 like it did before his shoulder injury in Texas. Both that injury and the apparent change in mechanics seems to have robbed Joba of velocity.
A big argument of those who preferred Chamberlain to be in the pen was that his velocity kicked up there, and he was able to blow it by guys without much effort. The post-injury Joba has not been able to do that. His slider is still effective and moving well, but the drop in fastball velocity is helping to make that slider irrelevant. Then again, that could have a little more to do with Joba’s frequent struggles with control. Not being able to locate a fastball is a much bigger problem than not throwing it as hard.
No matter what you consider the bigger issue–velocity or control–if Joba doesn’t solve at least one of them, he could be in for a bit of a rough time. He’s got loads of talent, though, and when (yes, when) he fixes one of those things, he’ll be sitting pretty, be it in the rotation (unlikely) or the bullpen.
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5 Responses to Bullpen Not Magic
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TIQ IQ
I only saw a few good sliders out of Joba. I think he’s lost a lot from that pitch too. Though I could def be wrong. And of course a drop in velocity of his fastball will make his slider less ineffective anyway since hitters will have more time to wait before deciding fastball or slider.
If Joba can get C&C of his fastball, he need not throw 95+. C&C is the most important thing with a pitcher…period!
With four pitches and three of them working well, he needs the fastball. If he can get the C&C of the FB he could be a #2 #3 starter or better.
Think about it…how many very good starters throw at 95+? How many very good starters have four pitches? If Joba can get his C&C, we would have one hell of a good starter…or am I wrong?
I agree that he needs consistency more than anything else. He’s always been a bit erratic, but his stuff more than made up for it.
I think rebuilding a bullpen can be an almost annual event. Fortunately, Girardi seems to have the knack. I imagine there’ll be more than one current RP who isn’t there by the allstar break.
I know it was just for a few pitches, but Joba had a few ticks on the heater more than he’s had recently. Maybe he’ll do what Hughes did last year: remember to blow people away with well-placed heat by pitching in the BP.
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