Joba Chamberlain is expected to be the ace of the Yankees staff one day. The shut down kind of ace that Boston had last year with Josh Beckett. He's expected to send the Yanks to the promise land on the strength of his blazing fastball and sweeping slider. Right now, he's expected to reach his pitch limit and get himself mentally prepared for a starter's role in the majors.
After his first start, Joba admitted to having some nerves about his first major league start. That could explain his 38 pitch first inning. It resulted him lasted only into the third inning. On Sunday Joba got into the fifth. Chamberlain allowed three runs (two earned) on five hits. He walked one while striking out five. He threw 78 pitches (53 strikes).
The difference between Tuesday's start and yesterday's start raise more questions to the debate of Joba as a starter. His next outing is going to be Friday against the Houston Astros. His pitch limit in that game will be about 90-95. After that you think he would be able to go as far as he allows himself to go. The Yanks will get a better idea of how Hoba will be as a starter when he's able to pitch with no restrictions (surely they won't let him get to 120 pitches either on any start but you know what I mean).
It'll be interesting to see how he responds to the increased workload. It'll be interesting to see how he fares against teams he faces a second and third time around. He has the stuff to be a good starter. An ace? I dont think you can determine that just yet, without seeing him pitch in pressure situations (ones where he can't use his 100 mph fastball most of the time).
If he Yanks can find a guy to fill the set-up role that Joba left, then it makes the move to the rotation even better and strengthen the team overall. Yes I stated the obvious, but the Yanks have not perforned to the level we have expected them to,at this point anything can be viewed as a positive.
Joba's going to be fine. This weekend was a good sign as the Yanks once again fought back and got a come from behind win. Yesterday's win was a team effort. They need more of those type of wins. I like what I'm seeing. I just hope they can be consistent with this.
After his first start, Joba admitted to having some nerves about his first major league start. That could explain his 38 pitch first inning. It resulted him lasted only into the third inning. On Sunday Joba got into the fifth. Chamberlain allowed three runs (two earned) on five hits. He walked one while striking out five. He threw 78 pitches (53 strikes).
"I think he went out with the intention of being aggressive and getting some quick outs," Joe Girardi said. "He was real aggressive Sunday with his fastball, which I love."
The difference between Tuesday's start and yesterday's start raise more questions to the debate of Joba as a starter. His next outing is going to be Friday against the Houston Astros. His pitch limit in that game will be about 90-95. After that you think he would be able to go as far as he allows himself to go. The Yanks will get a better idea of how Hoba will be as a starter when he's able to pitch with no restrictions (surely they won't let him get to 120 pitches either on any start but you know what I mean).
"It's good to see it's going up, going up and going up," Chamberlain said of the well-publicized calculations. "Hopefully after one or two more, it will just be, 'Go out there and wherever it falls, whether it's 50, 80 or 140, go out there and do everything you can.' "
It'll be interesting to see how he responds to the increased workload. It'll be interesting to see how he fares against teams he faces a second and third time around. He has the stuff to be a good starter. An ace? I dont think you can determine that just yet, without seeing him pitch in pressure situations (ones where he can't use his 100 mph fastball most of the time).
If he Yanks can find a guy to fill the set-up role that Joba left, then it makes the move to the rotation even better and strengthen the team overall. Yes I stated the obvious, but the Yanks have not perforned to the level we have expected them to,at this point anything can be viewed as a positive.
Joba's going to be fine. This weekend was a good sign as the Yanks once again fought back and got a come from behind win. Yesterday's win was a team effort. They need more of those type of wins. I like what I'm seeing. I just hope they can be consistent with this.
Post a Comment