That wasn’t Joba Chamberlain on the mound Tuesday night, not the Joba I know. There were no fist pumps or primal screams. Maybe his controversial celebratory behavior isn’t part of his repertoire as a starter, or maybe it is. We’ll have to wait to find out because there was absolutely nothing to celebrate during his 2.3 inning debut as a starter.
Who was that guy? We knew there were going to be bumps and bruises as he tried to make the transition from set-up man to starter, a transition that should have ideally been made in the minor leagues, but he seemed to have lost his edge. Something just wasn’t right. The Joba I know just goes out there and lets it rip, he scares hitters. Tonight, it looked the other way around as he tiptoed around the likes of Marco Scutaro and Shannon Stewart while racking up 37 pitches in the first inning.
Last season this guy didn’t throw 35 pitches in an entire contest, this year he exceeded that mark only twice before Tuesday, but in those instances it was over the course of two innings. That alone should tell you something was wrong with his approach.
It was clear that he wasn’t attacking hitters like he normally does. Granted, the mentality is going to be different as a starter, but as a power pitcher the way you approach hitters shouldn’t be. How can it be when you only have two pitches, a fastball and slider? What I want to know, though, is what happened to his above average change-up and this legendary curveball that he supposedly dominated hitters with while in college? He doesn’t need either of these pitches to get guys out with, but, as a starter, he needs something to set-up his fastball with.
Being a two pitcher wonder just isn’t going to cut it. At the very least, he needs to at least be able to show these pitches to hitters so that they know he has them. At one point he threw 17 fastballs in a row, the scoreboard clocked him at (a very generous) 101 mph, but that pitch isn’t going to be effective if he continues to fail to spot it, or if that’s all he has to show. He has to find those pitches again. Otherwise, if he fails to pull them out of the attic, he’ll be back in the bullpen dominating hitters with his two plus pitches.
If nothing else, we now know that this is exactly how a young pitcher shouldn’t be handled. I was probably one of the biggest advocates for making this move, but it shouldn’t be happening like this. At the very least they should have let him get a couple games on the road, pitching in New York isn’t easy, especially when you’re only 22 years-old and considered the savior of the franchise. Throw the pressure from the Steinbrenner family into the mix and you can’t win. Not like this at least.
Ideally, this transition should have taken place in the minor leagues. Obviously this guy isn’t ready. He wouldn’t have immediately gone into the bullpen to get extra work after being pulled from the game if he was. Why isn’t he in the minor leagues getting stretched out properly, instead of doing it on the fly? The only thing this is going to do is kill his confidence.
I really hope that that doesn’t happen. He has amazing talent and potential, it would be a travesty if he became a casualty of the Steinbrenner/Cashman power struggle that’s taking place behind the curtains. But, even if he fails to make the transition, being the next Mariano Rivera isn’t that bad of a consolation prize. It’s too soon to talk about that though, this is only the first foray, and he’s going to get knocked around a lot more before he finally settles in.
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{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
The yankees have no patience. This change is just going to make their season alot worse.
I wouldn’t say they have no patience. Patience is holding onto two young (what were previously believed to be) studs instead of dealing them for the game’s premier lefthander.They displayed a significant amount of patience last season with Joba, and also earlier this year with their handling of him. Since they have decided to abandon that and make this move on the fly at the Major League level, the definition of patience has changed. Will they stick with him in the rotation and let him go through the growing pains? Or if he fails in his first five starts, or so, will he be pushed back into the bullpen? That’s what I’m interested to see. Truth be told, he only gave up one run. It could have been worst, but, to be fair, the stats don’t tell the story either. It was hard to watch that performance. Very discomforting for Joba standards. He needs to get his other pitches working if he hopes to find success, you can be all heat, but people have to know you can throw off speed stuff so they can’t just wait for a pitch, even if your fastball is touching 100mph.
I find the whole Joba thing bizarre. When was the last time a starter with the potential that Chamberlain has was coddled and nursed the way he is? When Seaver came up in 1968 he pitched 18 complete games and he pitched more than 250 innings the first twelve years of his career. I know that complete games have a different standard today but even a guy like Mike Pelfrey on the Mets, an assumed strong third or fourth starter, has not been treated the Joba way.
I believe the “Joba rules” have been costing the Yankees wins. If he is not ready to start full time and pitch at least six innings, he should be in Triple A. He takes up a roster spot that could be used for either a more reliable starter or a decent set up man, if the Yankees were willing to make a trade. As it stands, they blew that chance by not trading for Santana. Look at Hughes - too brittle - and Kennedy - overrated. How much better would they be with Santana?
The role of a starter is dramatically different from a set up man or reliever. Fist pumping, caveman dramatics will wear you out physically and emotionally after two innings. If he needs that to succeed on the mound, then maybe the Yankees should put him back in the pen.
Well said as always, Bronxilla. There is no doubt that his growth has been stunted. They’ve coddled this guy to the point now that if they follow the rule of 30, it’s going to be 2, 3 years before he hits 200 innings. Like you said, if the guy can’t go six innings, what’s the point of putting him in the bigs? All that’s going to do is end up causing problems for their bullpen. They’ll have to bring out the whole brigade the get through a game when he’s on the mound. How does that help you win?
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