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Thread: Yanks to start Joba in the pen to limit innings

  1. #1
    He has the Evil Eye! flyer85's Avatar
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    Yanks to start Joba in the pen to limit innings

    ESPN.com news services

    There reportedly will be a whole new set of "Joba Rules" in 2008.

    The New York Post reported Tuesday that New York Yankees phenom Joba Chamberlain will begin the season as Mariano Rivera's setup man, then be sent down to the minors in June to stretch out his arm so he can be part of New York's rotation for the second half.

    According to the Post, the Yankees want to limit the 22-year-old Chamberlain to approximately 140 innings in 2008 and starting him out of the bullpen will help to keep his innings count down.

    The Post report states that the Yankees will start Chamberlain in the bullpen, not only to protect his arm but to find his successor as setup man. The newspaper reported that the team will audition several young relievers from a group including Alan Horne, Jose Veras, Edwar Ramirez and Ross Ohlendorf in the sixth and seventh innings in the hope they can replace Chamberlain when he moves into the rotation.

    A starter in the minors, Chamberlain became Rivera's primary setup man during the final two months of last season.

    "We've approached it in a great way. We're going to go in the beginning and understand there's an innings limit, and I know that," Chamberlain said Monday. "I'm excited to have a new challenge this year."

    Chamberlain enters spring training along with two other heralded young pitchers: Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy. The Yankees are relying on youth more than in recent years as they try to dethrone the World Series champion Boston Red Sox.

    Chamberlain will work with the starting pitchers during the early part of spring training, even if he begins the season in the bullpen. Last year, Chamberlain worked under strict pitch and innings limits, which came to be known as the Joba Rules.

    "This game is definitely a marathon, not a sprint, and I understand that," Chamberlain said. "Last year, it was kind of frustrating, having the rules, but you understood what it was about. I understand the work load and what's going to go on, but this is going to be my first go around, so I've got to be patient and learn and understand that I've got to ask questions as I prepare myself for a full season in the big leagues."

    Chamberlain has been throwing off a mound for the past month at the Yankees' minor league complex. The on-field success has changed his off-field life, which includes being recognized more in public and invitations to baseball events.

    "I definitely got some frequent-flyer miles, I'll tell you that much," Chamberlain said with a smile. "It's just the opportunities that came, and the people that I got to meet was great. If you don't perform on the field, you don't get to do all that great stuff and enjoy yourself in the offseason. It was definitely an honor. Hard works pays off, but you've got to come back and work even harder so you can have that much fun next year."

    Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.


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    Posting in Dynarama M2's Avatar
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    Re: Yanks to start Joba in the pen to limit innings

    They're also starting him in the bullpen because he's going to spend his career there.
    I'm not a system player. I am a system.

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    So Long Uncle Joe BoydsOfSummer's Avatar
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    Re: Yanks to start Joba in the pen to limit innings

    Quote Originally Posted by M2 View Post
    They're also starting him in the bullpen because he's going to spend his career there.
    Bingo!
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    Re: Yanks to start Joba in the pen to limit innings

    Quote Originally Posted by M2 View Post
    They're also starting him in the bullpen because he's going to spend his career there.
    Mariano Rivera, Part Deux
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    Re: Yanks to start Joba in the pen to limit innings

    Quote Originally Posted by M2 View Post
    They're also starting him in the bullpen because he's going to spend his career there.
    then why move him to the rotation at mid-season. Doesn't seem like their plan for him is to relieve long term.

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    Re: Yanks to start Joba in the pen to limit innings

    I like this approach for young pitchers, and look forward to the results.

    I would even apply it to certain minor leaguers when attempting to move up a level or two.

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    Re: Yanks to start Joba in the pen to limit innings

    Quote Originally Posted by M2 View Post
    They're also starting him in the bullpen because he's going to spend his career there.
    What makes you say that? Doesn't he have 2 plus pitches and decent breaking stuff? Fastball, Slider, and then a change for lefties and a curve for righties is a pretty standard starter repertoire. And he's built to carry the load. Reminds me a bit of a young Bartolo Colon with better control and less creativity with his fastball.
    Games are won on run differential -- scoring more than your opponent. Runs are runs, scored or prevented they all count the same. Worry about scoring more and allowing fewer, not which positions contribute to which side of the equation or how "consistent" you are at your current level of performance.

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    Posting in Dynarama M2's Avatar
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    Re: Yanks to start Joba in the pen to limit innings

    Quote Originally Posted by flyer85 View Post
    then why move him to the rotation at mid-season. Doesn't seem like their plan for him is to relieve long term.
    They won't move him to the rotation at midseason. He certainly won't be sent down to the minors to stretch out his arm if he's pitching well in the majors.

    It's pure B.S.
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    Posting in Dynarama M2's Avatar
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    Re: Yanks to start Joba in the pen to limit innings

    Quote Originally Posted by RedsManRick View Post
    What makes you say that? Doesn't he have 2 plus pitches and decent breaking stuff? Fastball, Slider, and then a change for lefties and a curve for righties is a pretty standard starter repertoire. And he's built to carry the load. Reminds me a bit of a young Bartolo Colon with better control and less creativity with his fastball.
    He doesn't have a change worth mentioning (the slider's more effective against RHBs and the curve is better for LHBs, traditionally speaking).

    I don't disagree that he has the potential to be a big-time starter, but he's never thrown more than 119 IP in a season and his stuff gets evil when he relieves. I figure if he succeeds in the pen, no one's ever going to ask him to start.

    The bullpen was supposedly only a way station for Mo Rivera too.
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    He has the Evil Eye! flyer85's Avatar
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    Re: Yanks to start Joba in the pen to limit innings

    Quote Originally Posted by M2 View Post
    He doesn't have a change worth mentioning (the slider's more effective against RHBs and the curve is better for LHBs, traditionally speaking)..
    A number of dominant starters have had their success throwing only 2 pitches. The fact that he doesn't have a quality third pitch doesn't at all preclude him from being a starter. When you have a 94-98 fastball and a nasty slider throwing a 3rd pitch is doing the batter a favor.

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    Sprinkles are for winners dougdirt's Avatar
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    Re: Yanks to start Joba in the pen to limit innings

    I am 100% with M2 on this one. I don't buy what the Yankees are selling even a tiny little bit.

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    Re: Yanks to start Joba in the pen to limit innings

    Why would the Yankees lie about this? To keep Joba happy because he might prefer to start... until they "change their mind" and send him back to the pen?

    I just do not see what they'd have to gain. Once Rivera is done, they can buy the next big closer to hit the market. Why not see if Chamberlain can eventually lay waste to 200 innings instead of 80-90?

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    Re: Yanks to start Joba in the pen to limit innings

    You almost can't do what they're saying they're going to do. If Joba's pitching like he was last year out of the pen, they're going to suddenly take him out of that role, send him down to get stretched out, and hand his relief innings over to someone else who may or may not be able to do the job at all, never mind do it as well as he's been doing it? No, you'd do it the other way, start him in the rotation, or the AAA rotation, and move him into the pen later as he got closer to his innings limit.
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    Re: Yanks to start Joba in the pen to limit innings

    Quote Originally Posted by blumj View Post
    No, you'd do it the other way, start him in the rotation, or the AAA rotation, and move him into the pen later as he got closer to his innings limit.
    Not if you wanted to have a potentially dominant starter ready for the playoffs.

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    Re: Yanks to start Joba in the pen to limit innings

    I don't think the Yanks are lying. I think that is their plan. However, what I think will happen with Chamberlain is what happened with Pappelbon (although the route to get there will be different) rather than what happened with Wainwright.


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