2010 Joba Chamberlain Performance Thread

[JavyVazquezIsSick]

Although I missed the first batter I have Joba's performance in 720p for anyone who PMs me.

720? Do you live in the 1800s?

[23jordan]

720? Do you live in the 1800s?

If you wanna fork over the $$ for my storage so I archive all my video in 1080i/p I'd gladly accept

[Axon]

I am at the point now where I just want them to keep him in the bullpen. He seems comfortable their, and seems to have the mentality to go all out for an inning or two every night instead of pacing himself

There's something about his work out of the bullpen that seems so much more intimidating. I was ................ talking with a Red Sox fan last night and he couldn't stop bitching about Joba when he was in, which is usually a sign of concern or fear. Never had that during his starts, even if he was great at times.

And that slider last night was sick. So was the fastball he got Beltre with, I've never seen him put that kind of sink on it before.

[ajra21]

That fist pump felt really good, cuz you know it drove sox fans crazy.

you are so right sam. i'm not a fan of the fist pump but i loved seeing him do it last night.

as for his stuff, he's hit 96 on the YES gun in both appearances this season. that velocity is more than enough for him to suceed when his slider was breaking the way it did last night. not sure the fastball that struck out beltre was that good. it was a long way out of the strike zone. beltre and cameron might be the only two red sox to swing at that pitch. anyway, the little cameo was very pleasing to watch.

[Yankee Fan in Boston]

you are so right sam. i'm not a fan of the fist pump but i loved seeing him do it last night.

as for his stuff, he's hit 96 on the YES gun in both appearances this season. that velocity is more than enough for him to suceed when his slider was breaking the way it did last night. not sure the fastball that struck out beltre was that good. it was a long way out of the strike zone. beltre and cameron might be the only two red sox to swing at that pitch. anyway, the little cameo was very pleasing to watch.

I don't want to be yet another armchair psychologist, but confidence is a big part of any sport, and it was good to see Joba feeling it last night. I can live with the fist pump if he is going to pitch like that all year

[Axon]

as for his stuff, he's hit 96 on the YES gun in both appearances this season. that velocity is more than enough for him to suceed when his slider was breaking the way it did last night. not sure the fastball that struck out beltre was that good. it was a long way out of the strike zone. beltre and cameron might be the only two red sox to swing at that pitch. anyway, the little cameo was very pleasing to watch.

I agree that it wasn't the best pitch of all time, but that was the setup and he really hit his spot with it. Beltre looked stupid with that emergency hack. But yes, someone like Youkilis likely would not have swung at it.

A concern of mine with Joba recently is how badly he's all over the zone and missing/hanging his pitches - far more of an issue in my eyes than his velocity issues.

[NerfBall55]

That fist pump felt really good, cuz you know it drove sox fans crazy.

Absolutely. They LOATHE him up here.

The thing is, Joba's fist pump drives them crazy, but they're completely accepting of Papelbon's antics, which are much more demonstrative.

[Brick Tamland]

Joba looked good last night but if he's going to be in the 'pen I'd like to see that velocity come back.

[TheGameEpisode2]

Joba summoned the powers of Jobamania last night, and then went wild on Adrian Beltre and JD Drew.

[YESSIR!]

I love the flowery language that shows up when Joba's throwing out of the pen:

...[after Ortiz was retired], the bullpen door swung open and out stepped Joba Chamberlain. But not the Joba Chamberlain we had seen most of last year or all of this spring -- the one who was tentative and unsure, groping his way cautiously through innings like a four-round fighter suddenly being asked to go 12 and not at all sure he could do it.

Tonight's Joba was the 2007 vintage, the pre-midge Joba, the one who came out of the bullpen breathing fire and throwing smoke, the one who could silence Fenway just as easily as he could electrify Yankee Stadium.

http://sports.espn.go.com/new-york/m...ory?id=5062522

Breathing fire! Throwing smoke!

Snark aside, it was fun watching Joba dominate again. Even as Youkilis was tipping location to Drew on every pitch.

[grizy]

Snark aside, it was fun watching Joba dominate again. Even as Youkilis was tipping location to Drew on every pitch.

Hate to be snide, but if that happened it helped Joba because he was missing with fastballs (sliders were perfect though)

96 fb and 85 slider are good for mid-high 3s ERA though.

He can do better.

[OldYankeeFan]

Quote:

"You really can't let it fly for five or six innings as a starter," he said. "You can't blow it out because you're not going to be able physically to do it. You train your body to be able to pitch but you can't throw that hard for that long."

http://sports.espn.go.com/new-york/m...ory?id=5062522
Except he showed an ability to do just that as a starter in the minors in 07 and in the majors in 08. How you, and your JTTP kin, continue to gloss over that fact is fascinating to me.

Go back and check out Joba hitting 100 mph on his 101st pitch in Fenway against Beckett. It's there in plain sight. No smoke and mirrors.

Absolutely correct. So could it possibly be that after what had appeared to be a slight injury to his shoulder Joba just decided he would NOT throw as hard as he did as a good starter in '08 to protect himself from further injury and possibly jeopardize a big payday down the road?

If that's the case, and Joba refuses to "let it fly" for as long as he is in there as a future starter, like he did against Becket in '08, then I hereby will abandon my "joba should start next year" position and join the "JTTP forever" believers.

[jcarey]

As far as anyone can tell (since so many people seem to know a lot about this), did Joba revert to his old mechanics? If not, I think it's a promising sign that his stuff isn't dead with the new mechanics, just extremely inconsistent. He showed flashes of nastiness at times in ST as well, so maybe he'll start to pull it together.

I remember people on this board complaining when they changed Phil's mechanics. A few people said his curve was diminished and his fastball velocity decreased, but now he seems (to me) to be pitching with very good stuff on a more consistent basis. Maybe this is the trajectory we should expect with Joba.

[ppa79]

Once he gets back to 98-100 with that 88 mph slider we will have the Joba of old.

[CBNYC]

I hope the Joba as a starter crowd will finally shut up. A lot of fans got it right with Joba to the pen and so did Posada who said it all along.

[Eschie]

Is it possible to get tendinitis in your brain?

[YESSIR!]

Hate to be snide, but if that happened it helped Joba because he was missing with fastballs (sliders were perfect though)

96 fb and 85 slider are good for mid-high 3s ERA though.

He can do better.

I'm pretty sure it happened, but I think Drew just missed good pitches. You're right in the sense that knowing generally, not specifically, what's coming isn't always a good thing for a hitter when it's being relayed from someone else. It can cause you to question your approach and force action. Regardless, I thought Joba's stuff looked great.

[ThePinStripes]

Is it possible to get tendinitis in your brain?

[nnysiny]

looks like the tales of Joba's demise were a tad premature. i have no problem with him pitching like that in the 8th for the rest of the season

[OldYankeeFan]

Is it possible to get tendinitis in your brain?

Haha. From what Joba is saying it sure sounds that way to me.

[Melan-cynic]

Honestly, I think 80% of what athletes say to the media is intended to shut them up as quickly as humanly possible. Think about it; you just spent all day at the park, did interviews before your pre-game workout-played in a 3+ hour game, and are getting ready to shower and go home, but you have to sit there and get interrigated by a bunch of glorified stalkers who wouldn't know what you were talking about anyway. And in this case its a young guy who likes to drink and has an off day the next day.

I'm not saying Joba is or isn't mentally equiped to start, but I never, NEVER, read into anything athletes say when in robot mode.

Exactly what I was going to post in response to Dabomb. You have to take the question into account as well.

Joba was probably asked "your velocity was up tonight, why wasn't it there as a starter?"

You think if Joba had the answer to that he'd be throwing 90-92 at times last year or this Spring?

[NerfBall55]

I hope the Joba as a starter crowd will finally shut up. A lot of fans got it right with Joba to the pen and so did Posada who said it all along.

Based on the one good 2/3 of an inning he had last night?

[Melan-cynic]

I hope the Joba as a starter crowd will finally shut up. A lot of fans got it right with Joba to the pen and so did Posada who said it all along.

Yeah, two outs supercede his entire amateur and professional starting career. Who knew!?!

[dabomb2045]

Exactly what I was going to post in response to Dabomb. You have to take the question into account as well.

Joba was probably asked "your velocity was up tonight, why wasn't it there as a starter?"

You think if Joba had the answer to that he'd be throwing 90-92 at times last year or this Spring?

Its very possible that what he said last night to the media was just lip service ala what Jeter says to the reporters all the time. But for argument's sake....lets assume for a second what Joba said last night is something he really does believe.

If he does truly believe he cant "let it fly" as a starter the way he can in the bullpen....is there a way to change that mentality? Im not so sure if there is. The Yanks could tell him all they want and try to drill it in his head "dont hold back, dont hold back"...but if its something he doesnt wanna do (even if it happens subconciously)....how do you handle it?

[YESSIR!]

Here's a really good article from Hardball Times about how gaining/losing fastball veolicty affects starter/reliever performance. The conclusions are fairly obvious (faster = better), but there's a lot of good data here:

http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/ar...k-gain-a-tick/