Well, if you want to be optimistic, Johan Santana didn't pitch out of the rotation full time until his age 25 season. That'd be next season for Joba. (Although Santana was at least a part time starter in the previous seasons.) I wonder if they'll try to move him back to the rotation if someone gets hurt... because that's what really irks me about all of this. Not only is it short-sighted for next year, but it's also horribly short sighted for this year. I'd rather have Joba able to start for the Yanks should something happen than Aceves or Mitre. Especially when guys like Robertson and/or Melancon are both plenty capable of getting guys out. Given the rest of the Yankee roster, Joba in the pen is a luxury. These days, I'd imagine a solid sixth starter would be more valuable than a non-closer. (Hell, last year, Joba's WAR was 2.4.... Mo's was 2.2.)
Joba, in my opinion, should be in AAA building his innings up. Yeah, he won't "learn' anything down there, but he would be setting himself up for next season when Pettitte retires. He could also develop his changeup, which has paid dividends for Hughes. Odds are we'll need another starter at some point this season, might as well be Joba instead of some prospect with no MLB experience.
Joba has no innings limit. Hughes should have been in the pen. Hopefully mid-season they swap roles, so Hughes can build up his limit and we can still utilize him in the late season/October.
why? Hughes is the better pitcher of the two, hence he should be starting. Let him build his innings up this year (supposedly the number is around 170, which is fine out of a fifth starter)
Is he, though? I mean, I know he performed better this spring... but Joba DOES have a better track record to date, believe it or not. In any case, this quote makes me feel a little better about the long-term plans: “[Joba Chamberlain is] a starter in the bullpen,” [Brian] Cashman said in a telephone interview. “He can do both. He’s a starter who was just beaten out in the competition. That’s what we honestly believe, but we only had one spot.”
That has never stopped them. This will be Hughes 3rd chance at starting in three years. When he didn't make it in the past he went back to the minors or to the pen. It doesn't seem to bother Cashman how he handles them. Now Hughes is back as a starter after pitching about 78 innings last year. See if that doesn't catch up with him again.
I'm surprised you were freaking out so much. Did you honestly feel like the organization's plans had changed? As I said before, if we didn't have Vasquez Hughes and Joba would both be in our rotation. My gut feeling is that they don't want to send Joba down to AAA so that they can keep him with Eiland and the rest of the ML staff. They'll figure out something in terms of the innings. (More than likely if we're lucky and no one gets hurt, Joba will enter the rotation somewhere around mid-year and Hughes will switch to the pen. They'll both get a nice sum of innings for the year, while both getting critical MLB experience, all while we have 4 very good starters in front of them to carry the load.
I'm not "freaking out" about it. I just think it's a tremendously short-sighted move and will hurt the team more in the long run than it will help them in the short run. And it will have repercussions for next year, even if their long-term plan hasn't changed. I don't think his innings matter that much. The care they take with young pitchers is mostly because the arm is still developing and they don't want to overload it with a level of work it hasn't seen before. Joba's 24 now, and has seen enough work that if he's a starter again next year, there would be no limit on him. My problem with it is that Joba is a four pitch pitcher who will spend an entire year only throwing two of his pitches 98% of the time. That's not very good for his development. I also think it's pretty unfair to jerk him around like this. (Not that I think "fairness" should determine baseball decisions... but I think you can piss players off to a point where you get less than their potential out of them.) I don't see this happening, if only because I don't see them going through the trouble of trying to stretch Joba out at the ML level again. And like I said above, innings aren't what Joba needs.
Right or wrong this says 86 with 2 more in the post season. About in the middle I guess. http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/h/hugheph01.shtml Anyway, say what you want about preseason being meaningless but this team sucks right now. Can't pitch, can't hit..when Jamie Moyer at 47 shuts them out it's hilarious.
No, not in the middle. It's what I said it was. You only counted one postseason series (the ALDS). Hughes threw another 2.2 in the ALCS, and 1.2 more in the WS. He also threw an additional 19.1 innings in the minors last year. 25.2 innings for postseason and minors plus 86 for the Yanks in the regular season = 111 2/3 innings.
Good to see Cashman never changes... "The long-term role for Yankees right-hander Joba Chamberlain has not been determined. New York general manager Brian Cashman on Sunday didn't commit to or rule out Chamberlain getting an opportunity to be in the rotation next season. Chamberlain, who Cashman called a starter in the bullpen, was moved into a relief role Thursday when he lost out to Phil Hughes in the fifth starter competition." http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/spring2010/news/story?id=5035428 He will finish fucking with him when he is out of baseball 12 years too early.
:rofl: For all the differences of opinion Don and I may have, I have to give him one thing....he never disappoints. The above quote is like watching the first 4 seconds of a movie and claiming "This movie sucks so far!"
Looks like some internal strife in the organization regarding Joba. According to Billy Eppler (director of scouting,) Joba is a reliever for good now. According to Cashman he's still a "starter in the bullpen." I wonder if the coaching staff has identified something that they feel will prevent Joba from being a quality starter?
Starters win games, bullpens win championships. Even if Joba has the tools to eventually be a quality starter, if he has the tools to be an elite reliever, then there should be no question where he shuold be. I can't understand why Cashman is so set on having him start. Could it be that he has a particular free agent CP in mind?
I still maintain that if Joba can throw all 4 of his pitches well for 6-7 innings, once a week, for an entire season plus October, that he's far more valuable in the rotation. That's where my questioning begins. Does the coaching staff not believe that he can do the job of a starter? That's why Mo is Sandman; he couldn't do what he does as a starter.
i think is has more to do with there is no room in the rotation right now. I used to whole heartedly beleive he would be a dominant starter, but either his mechanics or some kind of injury keeps his velocity and consistency jumping all over the place.
