Comments on: Creating the Joba news, AP style

By: Jeremy

Jeremy — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 17:58:31 +0000

I think the Warren Spahn Award, given annually to the best lefty in the leagues, is a newsworthy event. The award is given by the Jim Thorpe Association and was presented this year by the Bricktown Rotary club in Oklahoma City.

CC thinks it’s a worthy award, as he has come twice to receive it. I understand that the award itself was not the point of your discussion, but I certainly think it’s newsworthy.

By: Old Ranger

Old Ranger — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 05:08:12 +0000

Yes he did but, not to baddly.

By: Ed

Ed — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 03:55:01 +0000

By that logic, no pitcher should ever be a starter. EVERYONE’s stats are better in the bullpen.

By: Zack

Zack — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 01:27:37 +0000

Yeah his 2.75 era while a starter should definately be moved to a bullpen, real smart.
by signing marte, having bruney, veras, ramirez, coke, and the kids down in teh farm, shows that the Yankees are doing EVERYTHING possible to keep Joba out of the bullpen

By: Ryan S.

Ryan S. — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 00:27:07 +0000

Considering the fact that Joba’s FB and slider are tremendous pitches – his slider is one of the best in the game already – throwing his still developing curveball 8% of the time, and effectively at that (if you actually watched, him pitch you should be able to remember he used that curve to get some outs), sounds just about right. Everyone realizes that Joba was a rookie last year, right? We all understand the implications of that statement, that Joba was a rookie ? That he’s still developing? That he’s not close to peaking?

He’s meeting every challenge he’s been getting – we’re already comparing him to guys like Lincecum or Beckett without batting an eye -and we still can’t get the Joba to the pen notion out of some people’s skulls? I just don’t get it – it demonstrates a complete and utter lack of understanding of the baseball process in some people.

By: Steve H

Steve H — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 00:24:16 +0000

I agree. Joba shouldn’t be a starter based on any # of pitches he can throw, he simply should be a starter because he can be very successful there. If he threw 1 pitch, and could give you 200 innings of a 3.50 era, he’d belong in the rotation.

By: Jamal G.

Jamal G. — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 00:21:54 +0000

Anybody who says Joba Chamberlain has “four plus pitches” has no idea what they are talking about. He has a plus fastball, a plus-plus slider, an above-average curveball and a show-me changeup. Now, obviously I am going off the reports of such sites as Baseball America and ESPN’s Keith Law, but Chamberlain has two dominant pitches – his heater and slider – and a good pitch in his curveball; his changeup is just there.

By: Ace

Ace — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 00:15:30 +0000

Whether he has four “plus” pitches is irrelevant.

Not when you have to repeatedly read comments on here about how he has four plus pitches from people who are making the case for him to be a starter.

I agree he should be a starter but this is a terrible way to argue that point. That’s all I’m saying.

I agree with everything else you said.

By: Giuseppe Franco

Giuseppe Franco — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 00:07:30 +0000

His secondary pitches will get better the more often he throws them.

Whether he has four “plus” pitches is irrelevant. He still has four pitches – at least two are plus pitches and the other two or no worse than ML average.

He’ll keep working on those secondary pitches and he’ll be that much tougher to beat.

By: Ace

Ace — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 00:01:45 +0000

That’s fair but for someone who isn’t throwing that many pitches I’m not hopping on the “he has 4 plus pitches” train yet. Let’s actually see them before using that as an argument of where he should be placed.

And yes, he should be a starter.