Aceves, Hideki, Jeter, Jorge bail out Joba
Joba Chamberlain had his worst start ever. He used to be electric and exciting, but now he’s like watching paint dry. He had no control, went 3-2 too much, and gave up 8 runs in 3.2 innings against the Blue Jays (although many were technically unearned runs thanks to a Cody Ransom error).
With Wang on the DL, the Yanks brought up Jonathan Albaladejo again, which still is the hardest name for me to spell on this blog. Anyway, Jon kinda stopped the bleeding, but the true gem was Alfredo Aceves (pictured), who went 4 scoreless innings, with 5K, 0BB, and 1 hit!
With the score 8-4, Hideki Matsui hit a 3-run HR, and the Yanks were on a roll. Jorge Posada went 4-5 with 3 RBI, and Derek killed the Jays with a 2-run HR.
Last year a game like this would have gotten out of hand, and the final score would have been 15-5 Blue Jays. This year things are different, as the comeback Yanks are looking like a post-season team.
David Cone said “Ace” (Aceves) has an assortment of pitches at different speeds and angles, like El Duque (and Cone himself). Ace sounds like a secret character in a video game…his ERA is 2.02 now over 40 innings and seems to work in whatever role the Yanks assign him to: starter, long relief, set-up, close…all in the same season, too. The guy just wants to work. It’s amazing how Joba can’t do that.
Hughes, Ace, and Rivera make the 2009 Yankees bullpen look reeeeal good right now.
Of course, I would love to see Ace get his wish and start….We’ll see how this develops, especially since Wang is out.
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Vahl here.
We're on the same page concerning Joba. I got tired of the whole Joba thing this weekend. He's been inconsistent this year — if his arm is making the argument, it is saying, "Make me the mop up guy!"
As you've said, he's the fifth starter. He's not an ace; if he pitches in the postseason, it's going to be after Andy or C.C. or whoever gives up 6 runs in the first inning.
I don't care about the Joba "starter vs. eighth inning set-up guy" argument. Those days are over until Joba starts arguing for either role with his arm on a CONSISTENT basis.
I hope he quits drinking. I hope he becomes a Theravadan Buddhist, or adopts Mariano's religion/philosophy. Or just adopt Mariano's cut fastball. Something. Anything.
I agree with Vahl whole heartedly!
Joba was good/great before the bugs
got to him.. He has to prove himself and get the pitch count down! We are going to need him come September down the home stretch!!! I would rather hear more
about our middle relief bull pen guys!! But, nobody in the history of M.L.B. can come close to Mariano
Rivera! Maybe he should talk to Joba about having God or the Dali
in his life instead of booze and women! Not that there is anything wrong with that..(but in the off season dude!!!
Joba's post-game comments were pretty harsh- he said he had a great game and that he has a job for next time, so he can wake up in the morning with no problems.
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I agree that the 8th inning debate is worthless especially since he has control problems right now.
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Michael Kay said looking at his gamelogs, Joba lost "it" that night in Texas last year when he went on the DL, and that it hurt his velocity.
Another theory is that the pitch count limits and being forced to "pace himself" killed his stamina.
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That being said, there's a good chance he will improve as long as he breaks bad pitching habits like going 0-2 to 3-2 with counts. But until we see that, he's a 5 inning pitcher with an ERA of around 4, which is actually very, very good for a back-of-the-rotation guy.
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Joba is injury PRONE and a prospect, so Cashman treats him with kid gloves.
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I'm real proud of his friend Phil Hughes for really stepping up with his own role change. In fact, Hughes is making relief pitching seem easy (which it technically is if you are a good pitcher).
You'd think someone like Pedro Martinez would try and sell himself as a closer or set-up man to get some work, but starters generally have too much pride and "can't warm up" quickly enough. So I tip my hat to Hughes for making a seamless transition to the bullpen.
Everyone should take an example from Hughes who was not a cry baby when he lost his "starting job".
He fell into his middle relief with
maturity and stamina! Good for him!