Joba Chamberlain: The New York Yankees Rotation Needs a Call To the Bullpen
January 17, 2011 · Nick Xouris · Jump to comments
Article Source: Bleacher Report - New York Yankees
People often say that the definition of insanity is “doing the same thing over and over again but expecting different results”.
I always wondered how this originated.
Though it sounds cute and makes for a great emo Facebook status, it always struck me as erroneous.
People sometimes accept statements as fact just because they are repeated frequently—things like Peyton Manning being a clutch quarterback.
Today, I looked up insanity’s definition.
Sure enough, insanity does not mean, “doing the same thing over and over again but expecting different results”. (Some people attribute this quote to Albert Einstein; others say Benjamin Franklin coined the phrase. Each man did great things for our country; however, I do not believe that they are entitled to define words as they so choose.)
Instead, dictionary.com maintains that insanity is a spectrum of behaviors characterized by certain abnormal mental or behavioral patterns. It is a derangement of the mind; a mind state of senselessness.
Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results may be hard-headed but it is not insane. I highly doubt Steve Jobs perfected the iPod on the first try.
Persistence is a trait that can lead to great things
So I pose the following question: would it be insane for the New York Yankees to give Joba Chamberlain another shot in the starting rotation?
The Yankees currently have three starting pitchers penciled into their rotation, as they await the culmination of Andy Pettitte’s yearly Brett Favre antics. (I, for one, expect Pettitte to return).
One is C.C. Sabathia, a perennial Cy Young Award candidate. The other two are Phil Hughes and A.J. Burnett. Hughes hopes to build upon a solid 2010 season in which he won 18 games and finished with a 4.19 ERA.
However, Hughes enters 2011 having thrown 100 more innings in 2010 than he did in 2009. Studies have shown that young pitchers who increase their innings count by more than 25 innings in a given season are prone to regression.
Burnett is an enigma who, by July, could be out of baseball or in the midst of a career best season. Wasting time rationally debating A.J.’s merits is merely that: wasting time.
If Pettitte decides against returning, Sabathia will be the only sure thing. I will not mention Cliff Lee in this next sentence.
Enter Joba Chamberlain.
Everyone remembers the excitement that Chamberlain evoked as he burst onto the scene in 2007, pitching to a 0.38 ERA in 24 innings. His appearances were electric. He developed an attachment with the fan base that transcended the strikeouts and the fist pumps.
Yankees fans anointed him the heir apparent to Mariano Rivera’s throne.
Unfortunately, Chamberlain’s success in that small sample size hindered his development as a pitcher.
The Yankees drafted Chamberlain to be a starting pitcher. (Most draftees are because starting pitching is more valuable.) Like any responsible organization, the Yankees used Chamberlain out of the bullpen in 2007 to enhance their probability of winning a championship that season.
Using minor league starters out of the bullpen is a common way for contending teams to improve their team at a low cost, while acclimating a young player to the major leagues. David Price, Aroldis Chapman, and Jonathan Papelbon, among others, are recent examples of other starting pitching prospects who were brought up by their teams to shore up the big league staff during a pennant race. Any young power arm will look better in a one-inning stint out of the bullpen. (See Hughes, Phil)
It is illogical for Yankees fans to hold Chamberlain to his 2007 performance. Pitchers just don’t do that. In small sample sizes, fluky statistical anomalies—like 0.38 ERA’s in 24 innings—are prone to occur. For example, in 2010 alone, two other Yankee relievers went on runs comparable to Chamberlain’s 2007.
From July 4th to August 21st, David Robertson went 17 2/3 innings without giving up a run. He struck out 27 batters. From August 1st to October 1st, Kerry Wood allowed just one run in 25 innings. He struck out 29 batters.
There is so much variance in the performance of relief pitchers that streaks of this nature are par for the course. That Chamberlain’s run began his career makes it no more meaningful than the midseason performance of the aforementioned relief pitchers.
The Yankee media have been unable to overcome this reality. Their initial images of Chamberlain striking out the side on a 99-mph fastball scream “reliever” to them. Sports are entertainment, and the emotion that Chamberlain brings from the bullpen is certainly more entertaining.
But that does not make it the right baseball decision. Chamberlain has not proved that he cannot start; in fact, he has proved quite the opposite.
In 2008, Chamberlain started 12 games. He went 3-1 with a 2.76 ERA with 74 strikeouts in 65 innings. Pitching in the AL East, Chamberlain had similar numbers to Stephen Strasburg in 2010.
There are no Nationals fans clamoring for Strasburg to close games.
In 2009, Chamberlain gave Mike Francesa and the rest of the “Put Joba in the Bullpen” crew more fuel for the fire, mainly by not pitching like a prime Pedro Martinez.
At age 23, in his first full season as a starter, Chamberlain posted a 4.75 ERA. Only two other pitchers in the last 20 years (Mike Mussina and Scott Kazmir) have had this type of success at that age. Considering the games that the Yankee brass played with him all season, Chamberlain’s 2009 season is even more impressive.
The Yankees never gave Joba the opportunity to build upon his 2009 season. In Spring Training last year, Chamberlain lost his spot in the rotation to Phil Hughes. He returned to the bullpen and had a lackluster season. The starter/reliever flip-flopping appears to be over. The media won.
I doubt Brian Cashman is satisfied.
The hype that Chamberlain’s debut generated created an illusionary standard that prevented the Yankees from bringing him along in the manner that they would have liked. Cashman probably wishes that he had a mulligan in handling Chamberlain.
2011 can be that mulligan.
This offseason, the Yankees have signed Rafael Soriano and Pedro Feliciano to free agent contracts. Their bullpen is getting crowded. As of today, Chamberlain looks relegated to protecting those all-important five run leads in the sixth inning.
His talents would be better suited elsewhere. Like, say, I don’t know, the starting rotation (Chamberlain is still younger than Clay Buchholz, David Price, and Ricky Romero!).
Insanity may have a large role in the Yankees’ handling of Chamberlain after all. The Yankees are insane to not let him start.
Give him every chance to succeed this time: No more Joba Rules. No more 75-pitch limits. No more 15 days rest between August starts. Just give him the ball 30+ times and see what happens. Sergio Mitre will not outpitch him.
The Yankees have a hole that is the actual size of Joba Chamberlain widening in the rotation.
It only makes sense to let Joba fill it.
(Or not…As a Red Sox fan, I kinda like the idea of Clay Buchholz vs. Ivan Nova)
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