30 posts tagged “joba chamberlain”
Now that the A-Rod news has been digested, here's what happened on the diamond today:
Joba Chamberlain struggled in his second outing of the spring. This was his line:
0 IP, 1 H, 5 ER, 4 BB, 0 K. Pretty ugly, to say the least. But at least it wasn't Brian Bannister territory.
Combined, Joba has given up seven runs in one inning of work this spring. It's not a good start for the big righty - as Michael Kay would say, it's an "inauspicious" beginning to his season.
Let's just hope he's good to go for April.
The Yankees are currently down 6-3 in the fourth inning of Game 4 of Spring Training.
Joba Chamberlain struggled in his one inning of work, allowing three hits and two runs. Dan Giese also struggled - in two innings, he gave up four hits, a walk, and four runs.
Combined, the Twins have seven hits in eighteen at bats, and the Yankees have five hits in eleven at bats. It looks like this one is turning into a slugfest real fast.
Update: The Yankees end the day with a 7-3 loss at the hands of the Twins. In two days, the Yankees have lost two games to the Twins, and their spring record now stands at 2-2.
Back on September 14th, I referenced a Joel Sherman article from the Post, which listed five mistakes the Yankees must fix for the 2009 season.
With spring training around the corner, let's see how they've done so far. This is what was said then (by Sherman), and my comments are in italics:
1) When you can get a prime-aged ace, move heaven, earth, and -- certainly -- Phil Hughes to get him: My biggest reason for advocating the acquisition of Johan Santana has not changed since the offseason. The Yanks had been looking for just this kind of No. 1 starter. They had gone exotic (Hideki Irabu, Jose Contreras), old (Kevin Brown, Roger Clemens, Randy Johnson), and on belief they could grow one in their lab (Jeff Weaver, Javier Vasquez, Carl Pavano). Aside from Clemens in his first Yankees incarnation, these were pretty much expensive busts.
The Yankees took care of this by signing CC Sabathia and A.J. Burnett to fill the void in the rotation. With the tandem of Sabathia, Burnett, and Wang, the Yankees are looking at three aces to lead the rotation. Throw in Joba Chamberlain and Andy Pettitte and the Yanks are good to go.
2) The prospects you have to know the best are your own: There are many reasons the Yankees recently had a dynasty. But right atop the list was that one-time GM Gene Michael did a great job of separating the keepers (Bernie Williams, Derek Jeter, Andy Pettitte, Mariano Rivera, and Jorge Posada) from the disposable. Joe Girardi, Tino Martinez, Jeff Nelson, Paul O'Neill, and David Cone were among the key pieces to the dynasty that were obtained by dealing farmhands. Believe it or not, the people who ran the Yankees farm system in 1995 were as obsessed with not trading top pitching prospect Marty Janzen as any Yankees official was in keeping Hughes out of a Santana trade last offseason. If you are asking, Marty who? Exactly.
The Yankees have held on to their top prospects, which include Austin Jackson, Jesus Montero, and a wealth of others. The beauty of the free agent market is that the only compensation is draft picks, not current players.
3) These are the Yankees; earn your way into a significant role: Hughes and Kennedy had not done enough to earn no-questions-asked roles in the 2008 rotation, and the bigger mistake was believing not one, but two neophytes could step right into action.
For the most part, all of the positions are set for the Yanks. The only question marks are in the outfield. Brett Gardner, Melky Cabrera, and Nick Swisher will fight for the center field spot, while Nady, Swisher, Damon, and Matsui will fight for the corner outfield and DH spots. This year, unlike last year, the Yankees are not relying on young, inexperienced players in important spots.
4) Long-term contracts go only to those who play hard and concentrate fully: Again, why did the Yanks not know Cano better? They had seen him wander mentally for three seasons in the majors and several years in the minors before investing long-term in him.
The Yankees gave away long-term contracts to three players this offseason (Sabathia, Burnett, Teixeira). All three certainly earned them, but it will be important for them to hold up their end of the deal.
5) How do you de-emphasize the highest-paid, biggest star on your team?: It was nice mythology built around how Alex Rodriguez and the Yankees decided to come back together last offseason. And, yes, the word is "mythology." Mainly because Rodriguez claimed he returned only because what he wanted most was to be a Yankee. The reality -- besides money and the trappings of fame -- is that A-Rod has no idea what he wants. The true Yankee did not stick around for either the Home Run Derby or the whole All-Star game at Yankee Stadium, go to Bobby Murcer's memorial in Oklahoma City (like Jeter and Pettitte did), or show up at a reasonable time for Old-Timer's Day.
After recent events, here is how I answer the question: you can't. You just can't.
Just like the whole Roger Clemens scandal in January, the Joba DUI story seems to get juicier by the day.
Foxsports.com is reporting that taunts about the Yankees' lousy season prompted Joba Chamberlain to storm out of a Nebraska strip point just before he was busted for drunken driving.
"Too bad you didn't play for the Red Sox," the customer said, according to another patron at the club. "Otherwise, you wouldn't be sitting here in a strip club in Nebraska."
Chamberlain is scheduled to appear in court on December 17th. Prosecutors have not decided on formal charges.
Oh, by the way, the World Series starts tonight.
Joba spoke to the media today after he was arrested yesterday morning on suspicion of driving under the influence. "I want to apologize to the New York Yankees and the fans for an error in judgment and for putting myself in a difficult situation. I intend to resolve this situation, and do not intend to be in such a situation again. My goal is to focus on pitching for the Yankees in the 2009 season." Chamberlain was driving a 2006 BMW 75i with Nebraska dealer plates when the Patrol stopped him at about 1 a.m. Hopefully, Joba will learn from this error in judgment.
In a bit of breaking news, it is being reported that Joba Chamberlain has been arrested under a DUI charge in his home state of Nebraska.
Pete Abe has the details.
Hank Steinbrenner has made it very clear that Joba Chamberlain will start in the 2009 season.
"The plan as of right now is Chamberlain is going to be a starter. Everybody's pretty much in agreement with that."
Personally, I don't care whether Joba starts or relieves, but he should be in a defined role throughout the entire season. If he starts, at some point he will reach an innings limit, which may cause problems.
If the Yankees start Opening Day with a rotation of Sabathia, Wang, Chamberlain, Hughes, and Pettitte or Mussina, I would be ecstatic. It would clearly be an improvement over last year's rotation. However, a lot will depend on how Hughes performs and whether or not the Yankees can obtain Sabathia. Health will also be a big issue.
Heck, as long as Sidney Ponson and Darrell Rasner are out of the rotation, I'll be happy.
Back in May and August, I handed out the first and second trimester awards for the New York Yankees. Now that the regular season is over, here are the third and final trimester awards:
MVP- Mike Mussina
No one expected Mussina to have a good year, yet alone a Cy Young type of year. Mussina finished with a 20-9 record and a remarkable 3.37 ERA. Without Mussina, the Yankees would probably have struggled to stay over .500.
Cy Young- Mariano Rivera
You might be saying, 'How can a pitcher win the MVP and not the Cy Young?' In terms of value to the team, Mussina was more valuable than Rivera, in my opinion. However, in terms of overall stats, Rivera had one of the best seasons ever by a closer. Rivera blew just one save and posted a stunning ERA of 1.40. His WHIP of 0.67 was also the lowest of his career.
Rookie of the Year- Joba Chamberlain
Joba pitched in 42 games this year, 12 of which were starts. He posted a 4-3 record and a stunning 2.60 ERA. He also struck out 118 in just 100 innings. Clearly, Joba was the best rookie on the team.
Surprise of the Year- Cody Ransom
Ransom emerged as a mid-level prospect to a very solid bench player near the end of the season. In limited playing time, Ransom hit over .300 with four home runs and eight RBI's. He has to be considered as a role player for next year.
Biggest Disappointment- Robinson Cano
Cano finished with a .271 average, more than 30 points off his career average. Cano was expected to develop into a better overall player in 2008, but instead, his performance regressed. It wasn't a terrible year, but if his stats were where they were from 2005 through 2007, the Yankees may have made the playoffs.
Game of the Year- July 7th, 2008. Johnny Damon's six hits are capped off by his walk-off winner in a thrilling 12-11 victory over the Royals.
Play of the Year- http://newyork.yankees.mlb.com/media/video.jsp?mid=200809193509924&c_id=nyy
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If you missed any of the other awards, here they are, free of charge:
Final Score: Yankees 6, Rays 5
Yankees: 78-70
Rays: 88-58
W- Marte (1-3)
L- Howell (6-1)
SV- Rivera (34)
Offense: After scoring just one run in the first game of today's doubleheader, the Yankees improved on their hitting and scored six runs in the nightcap. Derek Jeter, who had finished the day with six hits in the two combined games, went 3-for-3, increasing his average to .303. Robinson Cano and Cody Ransom also had multi-hit games. Wilson Betemit contributed his sixth home run of the year off Matt Garza, while Xavier Nady and Bobby Abreu each had big RBI singles in the seventh and eighth innings.
Pitching: Sidney Ponson delivered a terrible start, barely lasting into the fourth inning. He gave up four runs, all of which came on a grand slam off the bat of Ben Zobrist. In relief, Phil Coke pitched 2.2 innings of flawless baseball. He has really emerged as a solid pitcher in the past few weeks, and hopefully he'll get his shot with the club next year. Meanwhile, Damaso Marte, Joba Chamberlain, and Mariano Rivera combined to shut the Rays down in the seventh, eighth, and ninth innings.
Final Notes:
- Derek Jeter is now three hits away from tying Lou Gehrig for the most hits all-time at Yankee Stadium.
- Mariano Rivera now has 34 saves on the season and 477 in his career. He is one save away from tying Lee Smith for second all-time.
- In his last five starts, Sidney Ponson has allowed 25 runs, 35 hits, and 11 walks. I don't think we'll be seeing much of him down the stretch.
The guys from SNY's Loudmouths debate it:
