Joba Chamberlain answered Phil Hughes’ gem with a virtuoso performance of his own, going 7 innings and allowing just one run on 3 hits and 3 walks while striking out 6. His last four innings in particular looked a lot like what we had come to expect from Joba in the past. There were two really important developments that were evident in this performance.
1) The curveball that Joba threw to strike out Miguel Cabrera with the bases full and two outs in the third should preclude any further talk of sending him to the bullpen. When you have a pitcher whose third-best pitch can strike out one of the best hitters in baseball in a high pressure spot, you do not relegate him to pitching one inning at a time. You put him in the rotation and wait for him to become an ace. Joba has three above average major league pitches and a changeup that is getting to that point. If he stays healthy, he is going to be an ace.
2) Joba’s velocity was back up, as he raised his average fastball speed about half a MPH to 92.76 and hit 96 a few times. he also seemed to loosen up as the game proceeded, throwing harder and looking looser after the Cabrera at-bat. It seems that the brouhaha over his mechanics and velocity may have just been irrational panic over a young pitcher just building arm strength at the start of a season. We have never seen Joba as a starter to begin a season, and he just may be a pitcher who takes a few starts to build velocity.
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I had exactly the same reaction to the curveball strikeout. I also agree that he will be an ace if he stays healthy. I did see some signs tha he was having trouble locating the fastball early.
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Moshe Mandel Reply:
April 30th, 2009 at 11:40 am
Yeah the fastball was wild to start, but became more focused as he loosened up. Also, the ump was squeezing him a bit.
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mryankee Reply:
April 30th, 2009 at 12:55 pm
I noticed as I switched from the yes braodcast to the espn braodcast that the guns were very different. seems on espn joba was more 95-96-the yes gun had him 88-93. I think the yes gun is a little off as most games it seems to be low
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He has enough stuff to be a solid ot very good pitcher someday if he stays healthy.
I think ACE is a stretch but then again I’m not sure Phil Hughes is more than a #3-#4 type.
I constatly watch teams bring up young pitches who are throwing 95-96-and up with movement and with good breaking stuff and I don’t see Hughes having that type of stuff neccessarily.
Let’s see him pitch against the Red Sox & Tampa 2-3 times before we talk ACE for either.
An ACE can go in and shutdown a top team when needed.
Right now does anybody project that either of these kids can do what an AJ Burnett did to the Yankess and Sox last year?
Go in there throw 95-98 and have unhittable breaking stuff.
Joba maybe.
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Moshe Mandel Reply:
April 30th, 2009 at 2:01 pm
The answer to that question is an unequivocal yes regarding Joba. He was a top 5 prospect in baseball, and he would still be one right now. He is one of the top pitching phenoms in baseball, and definitely projects out to be a shutdown ace. In regard to Hughes, I see him having more the career of a number 2, but it looks like he enjoys pitching in big games- how good was he vs. Cleveland in the playoffs.
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Old Ranger Reply:
April 30th, 2009 at 2:46 pm
I look to see Joba as a shut-down #1 with more pitching experience…year or two. Phil is more like a very good #2, or like Moose and Andy in years past…very good aces on some teams.
Down the road, we also have Z-Mack and IPK in the system…along with a few others that could realistically make an impact in the Show, or use as trade.
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I view Z-MAck as a WAng type possibility.I’m in no way optimistic that IPK will ever be a top pitcher.
The biggest problem I have with Yankees drafting is all the 5′11-6′-6′1 pitchers they sign.
Red Sox keep bringing up big strong guys with live arms and top, top upside and Yankees keep drafting crafty little guys who don’t figure to get much better.
Yes, we get the occasional giant like Bettances or Brackman but many of our young pitchers have limited upside.
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Moshe Mandel Reply:
April 30th, 2009 at 3:57 pm
I’m curious about this- because I’m pretty sure the consensus among the minor league gurus, at least until about a year ago, was that the Yanks had more pitching upside in their system, and the Sox just had a lot more position player depth. I mean, who on the Sox has top, top upside? Lester, Buchholz, ?
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