Taking A Regular Turn, Joba’s Not Special
Two weeks ago, I shared that Joba Chamberlain, as a starting pitcher, is somewhat pedestrian with normal (4 days) rest , great with an extra day’s rest, and so-so with too much rest.
Well, Joba’s made some more starts since then – including one last night against the Mets on “normal” rest. Related, to date, here is how Chamberlain now appears, in terms of his effectiveness against batters, with 4, 5 and 6+ days rest between starts:
2008 Split G PA AB R HR BB SO SO/BB BA OBP SLG 4 Days 6 143 131 17 4 11 32 2.91 .267 .324 .382 5 Days 5 106 92 5 0 13 34 2.62 .207 .311 .239 6+ Days 1 25 22 1 0 1 8 8.00 .273 .320 .318 2009 Split G PA AB R HR BB SO SO/BB BA OBP SLG 4 Days 6 120 94 14 3 19 24 1.26 .266 .403 .404 5 Days 4 103 91 11 3 9 27 3.00 .198 .282 .308 6+ Days 2 53 45 5 1 5 7 1.40 .289 .396 .489 Career thru 06/13/09: Split G PA AB R HR BB SO SO/BB BA OBP SLG 4 Days 12 263 225 31 7 30 56 1.87 .267 .360 .391 5 Days 9 209 183 16 3 22 61 2.77 .202 .297 .273 6+ Days 3 78 67 6 1 6 15 2.50 .284 .372 .433
Stats via: Baseball-Reference.com
Note the difference, this season, when Chamberlain has normal (4 days) rest in terms of OBP allowed compared to when he has 5 days rest between starts: .403 vs. .282
Of course, yes, this is still a small sample size. But, if the trend continues, I have to go back to what I said two weeks ago:
…if Joba, on normal rest, is going to pitch less like an ace and more like a “an above-average (but not awesome) starting pitcher,” then he would provide the Yankees with equal value if he were to be used in the bullpen and he could perform like “a stellar set-up man.”
I wonder if Brian Cashman and Joe Girardi are thinking the same thing?
I’d prefer Joba and the Yankees taking their respective lumps now so that this 4-day fatigue issue is (hopefully) not a problem in 2010 and beyond. If this persists next year, maybe then team should revisit the BP discussion.
Joba needs to listen to Posada, and stop throwing so many breaking pitches.
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