And So Ends A Sad Chapter In Yankee Pitching History

(Courtesy of Noah K. Murray/The Star-Ledger)

(Originally published at IIATMS/TYA)

17.8.  After 14 combined seasons filled with injuries, bad luck, bad developmental decisions, and just plain bad pitching, that's what the Yankees have to show for their years of team control over Phil Hughes and Joba Chamberlain.  17.8 fWAR.  Or if you prefer the BR version, 13.4.  That's over the course of 442 appearances and 1,225.1 innings pitched, and you don't have to be a sabermetric genius to figure out that's not exactly prime bang for your buck in terms of value.  Hughes and Chamberlain never lived up to the hype as pitching prospects and as of 12 o'clock this morning, with no qualifying offers in their hands, they were free to leave the Yankees and pursue a fresh start with a new ballclub.  Chances are microscopically slim that either will return to the Yankees next season.

F*cking Joba...

(Courtesy of the AP)

After all you've done this year to keep this team in sight of the playoffs, you put the season in Joba Chamberlain's hands?  Joba's??  Joba's.

I don't even have anything I can write that can describe how little sense that makes, Joe.  It defies explanation.  There is no explanation for it.  It was the exact opposite of what you did the night before quick hooking D-Rob and it rendered that decision meaningless.  I thought you did a hell of a job this season, you've made me a fan.  But it's going to take a while to try to figure out what that was tonight.

Fucking Joba.

Oh Really... ?

Braves, Giants Interested In Joba Chamberlain http://t.co/FeYGaY8uUN #mlb
— MLB Trade Rumors (@mlbtraderumors) July 2, 2013

Saw this tweet come out from MLB Trade Rumors a little while ago, and while I have to say it's a bit surprising given how awful he's been recently, it's also good news for the Yankees and something I hope they pursue if this interest turns out to be more than just testing the waters.

I said earlier in the year it was better to wait until closer to the deadline to discuss trade scenarios for Joba.  Well, we're there now and it definitely bears talking about if the market is still there for him.  Joba has been really bad since coming off the DL (9.35/7.32 ERA/FIP split in June) and has been relegated to "only use when trailing" duty behind Shawn Kelley and Preston Claiborne.  As a free agent after this season, he's unlikely to re-sign with the Yankees and this could be their last chance to get something meaningful out of him.  They shouldn't expect much in return, but as a team that needs a lot of help the Yankees should definitely be willing to engage Atlanta and San Fran to try to get something useful back.

Joba's Bullpen Role Lost Already?

(Courtesy of Getty Images)

I still think it's a little early to start talking about Joba Chamberlain as a trade piece, despite Buster Olney sparking some chatter on that front with his tweets earlier this week.  The Yankees aren't going to be in sell mode at the deadline if they're even close to the postseason race, and it's highly unlikely they could get matching value in return for Joba in a position of need.  For now, let's just see if Joba can keep himself on the field before worrying about whether or not he'll be wearing a Yankee uniform on it.

What I will talk about is where Joba stands in Joe's bullpen pecking order right now.  He had been the official 7th Inning Guy before getting hurt and was pitching well before he got hurt.  Last night, Joe went the 'pen in the 7th inning of a 1-run game after Vidal Nuno left and it wasn't Joba he called on but Shawn Kelley.  Kelley has been a monster this month and he was last night again, striking out the side swinging.  Joba got called into mid-inning fireman duty in the 8th and didn't exactly shine in that role.  Has Joba already slid down the totem pole?  How will Joe use him if Kelley has bypassed him?  That's what I'd be watching over these next few weeks before concerning myself with possible Joba trade scenarios.

Joba Chamberlain Activated From The DL

I was starting to wonder if Joba Chamberlain was getting the same stall treatment I thought Ivan Nova was last week.  Thankfully this time the Yankees were nice enough to announce his activation from the DL before I wrote the post and made myself look like a double jackass.

The Yanks activated Joba this afternoon after a few MiL rehab assignments and I believe 2 comebackers that hit him during said assignments.  With the number of players still going down these days, it only makes sense to bring Joba back and have him get hit with a pitch in a Major League game.  David Huff was DFA'd to clear a spot on the active roster and in the suddenly chock full bullpen that has Mo, D-Rob, Logan, Claiborne, Kelley, Warren, Nova, and now Joba.  That's a lot of innings to go around.

As an added bonus, the Yankees have now opened up 2 spots on their 40-man roster.  They'll need them as the rest of the injured core continues to heal.  Now let's see where Joba fits back into the bullpen pecking order.  They certainly haven't been hurting without him.

Joba To The 15-Day DL With An Oblique Strain

Throw another log on the injury fire, folks, 'cause this DL party ain't over yet!

The Yankees announced earlier today that Joba Chamberlain has been put on the DL with a strained right oblique.  According to Cash, he felt something when he was warming up on Tuesday night and got an MRI this morning that showed the strain.  No replacement for Joba has been announced yet, although Cash did name drop Mark Montgomery, Sam Demel, and Preston Claiborne as three possibilities.  The strain is reportedly just a "mild" one, but as we saw with D-Rob last year, even a mild oblique strain can take a while to fully heal.

Oh, and speaking of D-Rob, he's being called day-to-day right now with a left hamstring issue suffered when he caught a spike and landed awkwardly throwing his pitch last night.  No DL needed for him, but I doubt he'll be available for the next few games.  Gonna need some length out of the starters this weekend.

Joba, Your Fastball. Woof!

I thought the slider was going to be the key for Joba this season, and truthfully he could stand to tighten up the location on that baby too.  But his fastball has been an absolute disaster in his first 5 appearances.  Not only is he throwing it over a MPH slower than he did last year (according to FanGraphs and Texas Leaguers), he's also not throwing it for strikes:

(Click to enlarge, courtesy of TL)

Sweet fancy Moses, that is terrible!  Almost every pitch is either in the meaty middle portion of the strike zone or nowhere near the strike zone.  He's thrown his 4-seamer for strikes less than 50% of the time in the 47 times he's thrown it so far, and if he wants to cut down on the walks and set up his slider more effectively he needs to start commanding it better.

P.S.- Yeah, I know I just mixed '90s references there with "Home Alone" and "Seinfeld."  I'm that good.  Deal with it.

Chamberlain, So Hot Right Now. Chamberlain

(Courtesy of the AP)

Guy.  That's awesome.  Re-sign this man now!

/stands and applauds

Not Much To These Joba-Texas Rumors

George King of The NY Post kickstarted the rumor mill yesterday with this story about the Texas Rangers sending scouts to watch Joba Chamberlain in his latest ST appearance.  The Rangers are woefully thin on bullpen arms right now and the Yankees actually have a bit of a surplus, so it makes sense from Texas' standpoint.  There are more than a few intriguing trade pieces on their side, names like Jurickson Profar and Mike Olt, but I wouldn't read too deeply into this situation.

For starters, Texas isn't trading either of those guys for Joba straight up, and I don't see either team wanting to add players to the deal to turn this into something bigger than Texas looking to fill a need.  Despite his statements to the contrary, Joba is a middle reliever coming off two major surgeries in the final year of team control before hitting free agency.  The Yankees aren't in much of a position to ask for something of real value in return for a trade piece like that, and there isn't much to be gained by trading away a useful piece of their bullpen for a player that doesn't help fill one of their needs.

If the Rangers are willing to talk multi-player deals and include Profar and/or Olt in the talks, then the Yankees should be all ears.  But I'd say this is more Texas just doing their due diligence for the trade deadline.

Joba's Latest Words Signal Future Intentions

There's been plenty of talk about what the future has in store for upcoming free agents like Robbie Cano, Phil Hughes, and C-Grand, but there's another upcoming FA who's not getting a lot of attention, at least not until yesterday.  Joba Chamberlain's contract is also up after this season, and he made it pretty clear what his intentions are with his comments about his ability to pitch as a starter again.  Joba has been a full-time reliever with the Yankees since 2010, and at this point there's no chance they make the attempt to convert him back to a starter.  Joba's best chance to get that chance again is being signed by a team willing to at least try him out as a starting pitcher and his statements yesterday certainly seemed like Joba trying to set that precedent early and up his value on the open market.

The timing of Joba's comments can be called into question, and I did like both Joe and Cash subliminally pointing that out in their responses to Joba, but at the same time I can't really get on Joba for saying what he said.  He's 27 years old, hitting free agency for the first time in his career, and doesn't have much of a resume to show off in an attempt to get a big deal.  The Yankees and their handling/mishandling of the early years of his career are a contributing factor to that light resume.  Their commitment to letting him start was always weak at best, and even though his career starter splits aren't Strasburg-ian, a 4.18/4.27/4.17 slash over 221.2 IP in 43 starts as a 23/24-year-old is hardly a good reason to pull the plug.  Joba' has the right to speak his mind and do what he feels is in his best interests, same as the team has used him to fit their best interests.

Some are going to spin this as Joba not being focused on this season and not being focused on the team, but I don't see it that way.  If anything, I think this is a sign that Joba is more focused and feeling better than he has in years.  He's healthy again and he knows his opportunities to prove himself this season are going to be limited.  It's no fun thinking about the prospect of him leaving for another club, but if this is the first step towards a return of the flame-throwing, fist-pumping, post-K-screaming Joba, I'm OK with it.

Joba Chamberlain Says Hello

Looking good, Joba.  Donnie Baseball ain't got nothing on that 'stache.  Just dripping class all over the place.

P.S.- How could David Price not want to come to New York and be able to rock facial hair like that??

The Importance Of Joba & Aardsma This Season

(Just a couple of wild and crazy guys.  Courtesy of Reuters)

I've made reference multiple times recently to the Yankees having another strong bullpen in 2013, and I strongly believe that's going to be the case.  They've got the greatest closer of all time back for another shot at a last go-round, arguably the best setup man and one of the best pressure relief pitchers in baseball ahead of him, 2 strong lefty specialists to play the late-inning matchup game, what will be a more than serviceable long man in whoever loses the 5th starter competition between Ivan Nova and David Phelps, and 2 veteran power arms to work the middle relief innings in Joba Chamberlain in David Aardsma.  But it is worth pointing out that the overall depth created by the loss of Rafael Soriano is slightly less than it was in 2012, when depth became a really important issue for obvious reasons.

Keeping that "anything can happen" experience from last season in mind, Joba and Aardsma could have more important roles to fill this season than people first realize.

2012 Statistical Trends: Joba's Comeback

(Courtesy of Getty Images)

2012 was a rough year for Joba Chamberlain.  After being shut down in 2011 and undergoing Tommy John Surgery, he was in the process of working himself back to full strength to make a summer 2012 return when he suffered his now infamous trampoline accident that resulted in a dislocated ankle.  When reports first came out on that injury, it sounded potentially career-threatening, but follow-up examinations and surgery made it much less so and Joba was able to return to a Major League mound in August.  Joba pitched to a 4.35/4.01/3.55 slash line in 20.2 innings pitched this past season, a small sample size to be sure.  But within that small sample size there are some interesting splits and trends that could point to a very strong 2013 campaign for Joba.

Joba's Slider Keying His Turnaround

(How does nobody get a shot of mini fist pump yesterday?  Courtesy of the AP)

The Yankees stood pat at the trade deadline when it came to addressing their relief pitching needs.  They had Joba Chamberlain close to coming back and were counting on his return to help fill the void created by the bullpen's regression.  Looking back now, it's easy (and correct) to say that strategy was flawed.  Putting faith in a player returning from a 14-month layoff that included Tommy John Surgery was misguided, and Joba's early results in his first 9 appearances reflect that.  Any way you cut it, 9 ER and 22 total baserunners allowed in 7.2 innings pitched is rough.  In this past week, however, we've seen signs that Joba is starting to find himself and starting to turn things around.  His command in general has greatly improved, but his slider has been very sharp and has really been the driving force behind his resurgence.

Relax With Joba, People

(Give the guy a break, folks.  He's just coming back.  Courtesy of The AP)

I appreciated Joba's openness and matter-of-fact assessment of his performance yesterday.  In the same vein as Eric Chavez's straightforward comments about the losing streak last week, Joba's real talk when discussing the job he did on the mound yesterday was refreshingly honest and the type of thing I would expect Joba to say.  He's a professional, he wants to do well, he wants to help the team win, and he's smart enough to recognize that he hasn't been doing that since coming back from his long injury layoff.  Joba has never been one to shy away from blame when he doesn't get the job done, and going just on the numbers so far it's pretty clear that he hasn't been getting the job done.  6 ER on 13 H and 4 BB in 6 IP is an ugly line for a reliever, and normally well within the parameters for determining a guy's worthiness of receiving some Bronx cheers.

Trade Deadline News: Yanks Get McGehee And Add Another Bullpen Arm...

The Dempster rumors turned out to be smoke, but the Yankees did make a small deal, acquiring infielder Casey McGehee from Pittsburgh for Chad Qualls.  McGehee, a former Brewer, hasn't come close to matching his career season of 2010 these last 2 years, but he can play third and has some pop from the right side.  With Teix missing at least the next couple of games, this was the Yankees' biggest need and McGehee is an upgrade over Ramiro Pena.

The bigger part of this deal is that by moving Qualls, the Yankees clear up a roster spot for Joba Chamberlain, who is going to be activated tonight.  I haven't seen any official reports of it yet, but it sounds like a done deal.  For the first time since June 5th of last year, Joba will be in a New York Yankee uniform and available to pitch out of the New York Yankee bullpen.  That's great news for him and the bullpen, who need another non-matchup arm in the worst way.

Welcome back, Joba.  Now somebody do me a favor and HIT THE FUCKING MUSIC!!!

Joba's Return Right Around The Corner

(A Joba fist pump right now would be the kitty's titties.  Courtesy of Audrey Tiernan/MCT)

It would be super mega-awesome if Joba returned to the bullpen (and the mound) this weekend.  From a storyline perspective, it wouldn't get much better than having him return at home against the hated, struggling Fraud Sawx, blow them away with some high-90s smoke, and walk off the mound with a triumphant fist pump.  The newspapers would eat it up, fans would eat it up, it would provide some much needed positive energy after the Yankees' rough West Coast trip, and it would make it fun to watch the BBTN guys try to spin the story in a way that poo-poo'd the Yankees and made excuses for the Fraud Sawx.

Joba=Beast Mode

I dropped a line about this on the AB4AR Page earlier this afternoon (hint, hint, "Like" that shit), but it definitely warrants its own post.

Cash was on "Boomer and Carton" this morning, a show I really miss and stupidly forget to put on every single morning when I get to the office, and he had some very interesting things to say about Joba's rehab.  Apparently, not only is Joba well ahead of schedule coming back from both TJS and his ankle surgery, but somewhere along the way he managed to transform back into the 21/22-year-old version of himself:

“Joba’s out of control.  The stuff he’s featuring is remarkable. He’s as high as 100 but upwards consistently 96, 97, 98. He looks really good...

So yeah, he’s due back here shortly. I mean, the worst-case scenario would be the first week of August, but he should be here ahead of that."

What's that you say?  Joba sitting upper 90s with the heater again?

/checks Fangraphs

Why he hasn't done that since 2007! Sounds like we got us a little Henry Rowengartner situation here.  This is great news indeed!  And it will be even better if he's still throwing that kind of smoke when he returns to the bullpen in the near future.  Say he's stupid for getting on the trampoline, say he's underachieved as a Yankee, say the Yankees should make him a starter again.  Say whatever you want about Joba.  But don't say he hasn't worked his ass off to get back this season, and don't say you aren't excited to see him take the mound again for the first time.

Now Joba just needs to get the 3 R's back into his routine and he'll be golden.

Joba Back Before The End Of The Month?

(Joba's rehab has been smooth sailing so far.  Courtesy of John Munson/The Star-Ledger)

The question of whether or not Joba Chamberlain would be able to pitch by the end of this season seemed almost out of the question months ago.  Questioning whether or not he could come back by the end of July would have seemed certifiable, but that's just the scenario that George King of the NY Post posed this morning:

"The plan is for Chamberlain to throw a bullpen session Monday. The next test will have Chamberlain throw in back-to-back games. If he comes through that exercise with no problems, he could come off the disabled list before the end of July."

Joba's latest rehab outing was last night for High-A Tampa, and it was his first tough one.  He gave up a couple hits and an earned run, the first he's allowed since starting his rehab schedule, in 2 innings of work.  Reports of mid-to-high 90s speeds on the fastball have been consistent since his first outing, and there have been absolutely no reports of Joba feeling any kind of discomfort in his elbow or ankle, so assuming all goes well in this next week a return by the end of July isn't out of the cards.  But Joba does have until August 8th to complete his 30-day rehab assignment, and coming off of 2 serious injuries to his arm and leg is no joke.  I'd feel much more comfortable with the Yankees giving him more time than he needs to complete the assignment than just enough, current bullpen situation being what it is.

Bullpen Injury Updates

The bullpen has been the biggest source of the Yankees' injury woes this season (see: Rivera, Mariano).  But over the past couple weeks, some of the key members who aren't lost for the season have been making progress towards their returns.  One will be able to return sooner than others, but both the short and long-term prognosis for the re-strengthening of Yankee bullpen depth looks good.

After the jump, here's a quick update on 3 key guys.