Can Joba Finish the Season as a Starter? (Part 2)

by jscape2000 on Aug 6, 2009 12:00 PM EDT in New York Yankees Analysis

3460kuri's excellent FanPost got the wheels turning on another crazy idea.

The Yankees pushed Joba Chamberlain back a day to start the first of four in the Bronx against Boston.

Obviously, the main reason is to throw a better pitcher than Sergio Mitre against the Red Sox, but part of the thinking could be to give Joba a chance to finish the season in the rotation.

He's thrown 110 innings, which leaves me to believe that he has about 40 innings remaining before his cap. I assume that once he hits the postseason the gloves come off. Let's also assume he'll average 6 innings per start the rest of the way. That gives him roughly 7 starts over the next two months.

Here's how to do it:

1. August 6th against Boston.

2. August 11th against Toronto.

3. August 16th against Seattle.

4. Use the off-day on the 20th to skip Mitre's spot in the rotation heading into the 3 game set in Fenway. Let Joba start on the 21st.

5. This time, use the off day on the 24th to skip Joba. Mitre starts the 26th against Texas and lines up for Baltimiore on September 1st. Bring AJ and CC back on their regular rest so that Joba starts the 29th against the White Sox.

6. I'll use a spot starter in Baltimore to skip Joba again. Pick whichever matchup you feel most favors the Yanks, and let the other starters continue through the rotation on normal rest. Joba starts September 7th as part of the double header against the Rays.

7. Joba's final tune-up headed into the playoffs comes against the Orioles on the 13th. Of course, depending on how much he's thrown and the state of the race, the Yanks could use the off-day on the 10th to skip this start all together. I wonder if that would be too long a lay-off, though.

This way, Joba never really has more than 8 days off, but also ensures that he pitches some of the most pivotal games against the contenders.

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Comments

Sounds like a plan.....

by FreeBradshaw on Aug 6, 2009 12:11 PM EDT reply actions

+1

If I's known I was going to live so long, I'd have taken better care of myself. Casey

by Cbeck3 on Aug 6, 2009 12:21 PM EDT up reply actions

Is the 13th his last start? The playoffs don’t start until the 6th or 7th of October. He’s going to have a full 3 weeks off?

by long time listener on Aug 6, 2009 12:18 PM EDT reply actions

I'm a moron

I looked at the series ending in KC at the end of September and said to myself, end of the season. I completely forgot the October series with the Rays.
Even if the Yanks clinch, they’ll need to give him a couple tune-up starts.

"Have faith in the Yankees, my son. Think of the great DiMaggio."

by jscape2000 on Aug 6, 2009 12:55 PM EDT up reply actions

He's going to need

more starts after the 13th. The season goes into October. He’ll really struggle in the playoffs if he doesn’t pitch for a few weeks. I like the plan, but he can’t end on the 13th. They’ll figure it out. The Yanks aren’t stupid. They know that they will be in a ton of trouble if Chamberlain has to leave the rotation. It will get figured out.

by nyyrocks29 on Aug 6, 2009 12:21 PM EDT reply actions

by the way

Make sure you bookmark all these posts so you can cut-and-paste next year when we have the same problem with Hughes.

by long time listener on Aug 6, 2009 12:26 PM EDT reply actions

LOL

by waw on Aug 6, 2009 12:27 PM EDT up reply actions

I vote that

Huges stays as 8th inning pitcher. Some are saying that he has the mentality to replace Mariano someday. Joba may not have pitched great last night, but he worked his way out of a few jams, so at 8-2 as a starter, I think he stays there.

by coops2001 on Aug 7, 2009 10:52 AM EDT up reply actions

I'm willing to bet if the Division race is close

All bets will be off. He won’t touch that feared 200 inning mark anyway. He should still be pushed back and skipped where possible to keep the innings down, but I am very opposed to moving him out of the rotation just because he hits 160 innings, especially if the division lead is still up in the air at the time.

We already are worried about having Mitre as the #5 starter, if Joba leaves the rotation then Mitre is the #4 starter and…Kei Igawa is #5? I don’t think I like that very much.

by GMan83201 on Aug 6, 2009 12:40 PM EDT reply actions

Cap schnapp

I think they’ll rest him when they can till the end of the regular season (pull him early wiht big leads), but there is NO way he’s coming out of the rotation unless he is sucking. Nope, Joba is gonna go beyond these innings limits….just my opinion of course.

by Ragnar808 on Aug 6, 2009 1:57 PM EDT reply actions

Agreed

Contingent on where they are in the standings and how stressful his starts are ( and how effective he is), Joba will probably pass 170 innings ( if he stays healthy). There is no other logical conclusion. He should have 8-9 more starts. We all want 6-7 solid, stress free innings each time ( dependent upon the score), that’s at least 48 innings and 63 on the far side.
One other thing, if Mitre stays in the rotation, they have to seperate him and Joba for the health of the bullpen.

by fredny on Aug 6, 2009 2:18 PM EDT reply actions

Cap limit

The pitch count is over rated if he is hot let him finish the year. The pennant race is going down to the wire without a doubt.

by bcw420 on Aug 6, 2009 2:30 PM EDT reply actions

I'm glad people think the cap

limit is lame. I agree. I saw a couple other forums evoking dumb memories about Dusty Baker ‘killing’ Prior’s arm and saying Joba (and even Hughes) was going down the same path. Pretty ridiculous.

by Hood on Aug 6, 2009 4:51 PM EDT reply actions

yeah, it's pretty dumb to worry about over-working young pitchers

It’s not like Dusty Baker did it to two young pitchers in Chicago who have never been the same. Wait, that’s exactly what happened. Well, at least he learned his lesson and none of the Reds’s best young pitchers just had TJ surgery. Wait, Baker pushed Edwin Volquez to 196 innings last year, after he had never thrown more than 34 in the big leagues, and now Volquez is out for a year.

The innings limit is frustrating to everybody, but you push young pitchers at your own peril. If they try to push Joba over the innings limit, there’s a significant chance that he’s not going to be the same pitcher next year, and a decent chance he’ll go under the knife. We’ve got to hope that Girardi and Cashman can get it right, but there’s no guarantee that they will. (For that matter, there’s no guarantee that they won’t hold him to the innings limit, miss the playoffs this year, AND Joba will get hurt next year. It’s a mad, mad world.)

by long time listener on Aug 6, 2009 5:02 PM EDT up reply actions

Volquez pitching

in the WBC and winter ball didn’t help either.

And regarding the innings limit, I do understand that you need to protect young arms. But at what point do you give him the expected workload of a ML pitcher? I always wonder if he’ll ever be durable enough to handle it. He sorta seems ill-fated for injury. If you show me a pitcher that isn’t able to pitch 200 innings a year, I’ll show you somebody who probably isn’t suited to be a starter.

He’s crucial in the rotation to close the year, so I don’t think shutting him down is an option at all. Skipping starts here and there up until the playoffs is the way to go. Do you think there’s a chance he goes to the bullpen in the playoffs?

by Hood on Aug 6, 2009 5:15 PM EDT up reply actions

If he’s at 150-160 this year, he can be at 180+ next year, then you turn him loose in 2011. I think this point was made in the Daily News chat earlier today, but Joba has not had a lot of innings in the minor leagues. You can’t just turn a guy loose and expect there to be no consequences.

by long time listener on Aug 6, 2009 5:25 PM EDT up reply actions

Cashman TODAY

Go to the right of the page and there is a interview TODAY with Cashman and in it he discusses what their feeling are on Joba. You can also listen to Andy, Girardi and Francona (if you want too), This is from Mike Francessa’s show on WFAN.

http://www.wfan.com/pages/930323.php

by Mondoas on Aug 6, 2009 6:13 PM EDT reply actions