From Rock Star in 07 to sinking like a rock in 2010.
It’s no secret that Joba has been maddeningly bad at times this year. His ERA is an ugly 5.40 for the season, and over his last 18 outings it’s an even uglier 8.64. In 10 of his 35 games he’s allowed at least one Run, and in 5 of those 10 appearances he’s allowed 2 or more Runs. His WHIP stands at 1.50 and he has allowed 13 Walks and 37 Hits in his 33 1/3 innings pitched on the season. The only thing that’s been consistent about Joba this year has been his inconsistency. While his fastball velocity has been up (94.1) this year as compared to last, it hasn’t been a plus pitch for him (-1.5). His peripherals have been good, posting a K/9 of 9.99 and K/BB rate of 2.85. His sky-high .385 BABIP (.327 career) would lead some to believe he’s just been unlucky this year, but watching him pitch this year Yankee fans know it’s been a tale of two Jobas. The one who comes in and blows hitters away with ease and the other who has nothing, gets crushed and is lucky to escape an inning. He’s allowed one or more runs in roughly 1/3 of his appearances this year. You can live with that if he’s being used in the low leverage Chan Ho Park role or even the 7th inning Dave Robertson role, but not from your primary setup man.
But what to do? It’s easy to say ‘send him down to AAA’ or ‘demote him in the bullpen’, which is what his performance dictates. But then the question quickly follows who would take his place? The first candidate would be Damaso Marte, who’s been very good against Lefties (.517 OPS against) this year and so-so facing Righties (.817 OPS). After 2 mediocre, injury marred seasons with Marte I think the Yanks have come to the conclusion that they prefer to use him primarily against Lefty batters. Is there any help from AAA? Not Mark Melancon, who has given up 14 H, 10 BB, 14 K in his last 15.1 IP (h/t RAB). Jon Albaladejo has been great in Scranton this year, but the Yanks have wanted someone who can give them length, and that’s not him.
As much as I hate to say it, I think were stuck with Joba in this role barring a trade of some sort. When Joe Girardi says that they have to get him straightened out, it’s not because he’s happy with the bullpen this year, because he’s not. It’s because there really isn’t a suitable Plan B.
If you enjoyed this article, please consider sharing it!
14 Responses to What to do with Joba?
Leave a Reply
TIQ IQ
If they want length, why not give Nova a second shot?
As for Joba, what I really want to happen won’t, but hey…swap him out with Nova and let Chamberlain start in AAA. It won’t prove much of a challenge for him, but at least he can a) build innings in preparation for (hopefully) starting next year b) boost his ultra-low trade value c) give him at least some confidence.
If Joba can’t turn it around completely in the 2nd half, the move to the ‘pen should be permanent. Joba hasnt become one of the AL’s better relievers, whereas Hughes had that claim at the end of ’09. If both Pettitte and Vazquez are gone next season, we might have to return to this convo, but there’s no convo if Joba can’t crush the competition from here on out.
Yeah, I’m with Reggie here. I can see wanting to get him more experience but you just can’t keep jerking him around back and forth. Although I would like to see him use his curveball more on nights when his slider isn’t working, and that’s something he would do more of if he was starting.
Frankly, I want him to stop shaking off his Catchers. He needs to stop the stuff about ‘having conviction in his pitches’. He hasn’t earned that yet, and his choices of pitch selection will earn him a ticket to AAA. Just throw the shit out of whatever your Catcher puts down, Joba. If they hit it, it’s his fault.
Joba is really pissing me off. In fairness, he has pitched a little better than his atrocious numbers indicate, but when you’re summoned into a one run game in the eighth you have to hold it. Nobody cares about your opponents’ .387 BABIP, they just want you to get three damn outs. He needs to stop walking people too. You have limited control over where balls are hit and how often they fall in for hits, but you can control walks. Stop being a b*tch and throw f’ng strikes. I have no idea what the Yankees are going to do with him. He’s not a lost cause by any means, but I certainly do not want him in the mix for the closer’s gig at this rate. Hopefully Ace can solidify things if and when he makes it back.
On a side note, Steve, why do you capitalize words that aren’t supposed to be capitalized, i.e. ‘runs’ and ‘hits’? It’s a little distracting.
“On a side note, Steve, why do you capitalize words that aren’t supposed to be capitalized, i.e. ‘runs’ and ‘hits’? It’s a little distracting.”
I will throw this one to our resident English major Matty, I think it’s grammatically correct. For example:
“Johnny runs 5 blocks down the street.”
“Johnny scores five Runs.”
In the first instance ‘runs’ is an adjective, since it describes an activity. In the second, I think it’s a proper noun since it refers to a category. But I could be wrong about that.
Send him down and get him a shrink. Call Sanchez or Albaladejo up
he needs to get in shape.. he looks like he is in beer drinking form..not baseball shape.. girardi blew yesterdays game..should have pulled joba after he walked bumtista
I’d swap him for Abalajedo, because h does need to work on his confidence and attitude. His comments after failing to hold the lead showed he admitted the mistake of walking the dangerous Bautista. He didn’t want to “give in to him” by throwng a fastball, but that is what he’s there for. He’s got to gear up his mind and his arm.
and Joba just did it, in Sunday’s 8th. Sombody (Eiland?) was talking to him, because he threw a fastball to Bautista. Screaming liner that Brett cut off. Threw a cement mixer slider that Lind pulled foul. Eiland and Cervelli talked to him,and he snapped another into the dirt that struck him out.
he reminds me now of that nightmare worthless{farnswotrh}..afraid to throw his fastball..and was in love with a pitch he got over one at of every ten pitches. how can joba not throw his best pitch to bumtista..he gets beat with a 97 mph pitch tip your hat.. but ahead 0 and two and walk him.. and after the catch brett had to make,, boy he should have been gone..we all have seen this from him now the last two seasons..has girardi missed this..billy martin ewould have gone out to the mound and opened him up about not throwing his best.. thats why today we seen his fastball much more..then he can play with a pitch to fool a batter.. he is becoming a waste of talent
If Joe/Cash had a better option I think we would have seen it already. Joba appears to the best out of an underperforming relief core. Its amazing NY can be in 1st with this pen.
Hi Jon… they can go to AAA and get alba or melancon..
I can’t get too excited about their AAA numbers. They’ve been up before and didn’t impress.
that is true,,if they are not in out future we need to move them. alba seems to melt up in the bigs..but i rather try alba and melancon then park..the kids have a shot…park is shot..make room for youth..coke was a big loss for us.. the kid curtis has a real nice stroke..almost like fred lynn..if we can get ever so lucky..