Looks like 2007 Joba is back.
After losing the fifth starter competition to Phil Hughes in Spring Training, Joba Chamberlain quickly “earned’ the 8th inning role. I say “earned” because to me there was never much doubt that the Yankees wanted to use him as the setup man to Mariano. Early on in the year, Joba struggled and his velocity was a bit unimpressive. His fastball was coming in around 92-93 mph, closer to where it normally would sit when he was a starter. There’s no reason why Joba couldn’t succeed at that level, but some wondered if he would regain his plus-velocity as the year progressed.
Whether Joba was simply warming up, working out some mechanical issues, or settling into his role in the bullpen, I can’t say. However, he is quickly becoming a shutdown force. On the year, Joba has thrown 16.2 IP, allowed 12 hits, 4 ER, walked 5 and struck out 21. His 11.34 K/9 is second only on the team to David Robertson (12.54) and represents his highest mark since his 2007 campaign. He’s also limiting the walks, to the tune of 2.70 BB/9, which leaves him with a splendid 4.20 K/BB ratio.
From a peripheral standpoint, Joba’s BABIP is a bit lower than his career average (.297 v. .318), but his FIP isn’t drastically out of line with his ERA, which suggests that Chamberlain hasn’t benefited from an unusual amount of luck. His strand rate is a bit high (83% in 2010 vs. a career average of 75.6%), but this is mostly nitpicking. The fact is that Chamberlain has been exceptionally good in 2010, and even better as of late. In his last eight outings, he has pitched 7.1 innings, giving up 2 hits, 0 runs, 2 walks and striking out 11. In short, Joba is dominating.
Last night he was brought into the eighth inning and performed about as well as you could ask, striking out the side on 14 pitches and employing his old nasty slider. According to Brooks Baseball, Chamberlain averaged 94.8 mph on his fastball and maxed out at 96.1 mph, and threw his slider at 87 mph. As you can see here, he saved his hardest fastball for the end of the inning, using it to set up his last strikeout, on a slider.
It’s early in the year, but it looks like Joba Chamberlain is back to his dominant ways out of the bullpen. I’d certainly prefer it if he were a starter, racking up innings and getting comfortable in the role, but the organization appears to prefer him in the bullpen, at least for 2010. If that’s going to be the case, it’s good to see that he is thriving in the role. With Mariano manning the ninth, opponents are going to find that it gets late awful early against the Yankees.
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12 Responses to Bulls on Parade
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TIQ IQ
I think they learned from Hughes last year that a young starter can benefit from some time in the BP. It’s been done before with some excellent results, and I wouldn’t be a bit surprised to see him given a shot at the rotation next year.
I hope he is given a shot next yr because I still believe he can be a top flight starter. As you stated it helped out hughes last yr especially with rediscovery his fastball
I definitely agree that Joba’s improved performance so far in 2010 is encouraging, but I just have one nitpick. You wrote:
“It’s early in the year, but it looks like Joba Chamberlain is back to his dominant ways out of the bullpen.”
… And yeah, the results have been good and the velocity is up a bit, but he’s not quite “back” in the sense that his velo could still bump up a bit. His velo now, as a reliever, is about where it was when he was a starter in ’08 (averaging around 95 MPH).
Again… Definitely encouraged, and not really disagreeing with you here… Just trying to be careful not to jump to conclusions. People seem to want to declare that Joba’s back to what we thought he’d be (not accusing you of saying that, just noting a general feeling I’ve noticed), but it’s still going to be a long process.
Yeah, that’s fair.
Yeah, he averaged 97 on his heater in ’07 – He’s still lost 2-3 mph, even in the most optimistic spinning of the numbers. I don’t know if it was the surgery or Eiland changing his motion to prevent injury, but he’s definitely not the same unhittable menace of 07. That’s not to say he couldn’t still be a dominant closer throwing 94-95 with that nasty slider, though.
i guess I’m alone in the camp that still wants him to start lol
No, I’m still in the camp with you.
*wipes forehead* Thought I was alone there for a second lol. Hopefully this stint in the BP can help him just like it helped hughes last yr. Even though I want him as a starter it is fun seeing him come out of the pen
You are very much not alone in that camp, a sizeable portion of the Yankee fan community wants to see Joba as a starter.
Yea thats true.
The one thing about him potentially going back in the rotation is who takes his place in the pen in 2011 season.
IIRC, he didn’t actually have shoulder surgery.
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