This one has been and will be debated for a long, long time. I'm here to tell you why it is ludicrous to even consider having Joba do anything other than start baseball games.
First and foremost- Joba was scouted and drafted as a starting pitcher. This is what he has done for the majority of his pitching career. The Yankees, like many forward-thinking organizations are very careful with their young pitching prospects. too much money is spent on these guys to have them burn out and fade away. Just ask the Cubs and Kerry Wood/Mark Prior. In light of this, they have put innings limits on all of their young pitchers. Since Joba has been pitching for less time than either Kennedy or Hughes, his limit is much lower. Accordingly, last year, when he was nearing his pitching limit, at around the same time the Yankees need a reliever in the big leagues it killed two birds with one stone. Each year the limits increase by 30-40 innings or so. This year, to keep him on schedule and not blow his limit by August, they start him in the bullpen and eat up a couple months in the pen, but not too many innings. This way he can start the remainder of the season this year and pitch a full season next year. This is the plan. Contrary to what you might hear on the radio, this has always been the plan. Boomer and Carton, you should read the newspaper before you start saying things like "this was never the plan"
OK, so I think it's safe to say I have established Joba is a starter and that's what the Yankees have always envisioned.
Now, is this a good idea?
Absofuckinglutely. The Yankee Dynasty of the mid to late 90's was established on quality starting pitching. Don't you remember those old axioms? i.e.: the Yank's, theres not an All-star on the team, but they keep winning. I do. And now I know why. Their starters were really good. Whats more, since the starters were so good, the bullpen was not overused and overexposed and so David Weathers (!!!) and Graeme Lloyd(quadruple !!!) could be effective and even lauded relief pitchers.
Now you may say "Hey, Mac, its the chicken or the egg" and I will say "fuck you, this is my post." Assuming I grant you that dubious point(which I don't, but for arguments sake...) without Joba, the Yanks have neither plus starting nor a plus bullpen, and the argument for having a plus bullpen while having a bad starting rotation is specious, at best. Joba is the lynchpin: taking him out the bullpen downgrades the bullpen, no question. But, putting him in the rotation allows for better starting pitching and less days where the bullpen has to eat innings. I would rather worry "what are we gonna do with this lead now?" than "fuck, its 14-3 in the second?"
As we have seen for the last several postseasons now, it is all about starting pitching. Becket/Dontrelle; Schilling/Johnson; Beckett/Schilling; Sabathia/Carmona etc. etc. etc. If you can have two frontline guys to throw in a short series, you are cooking with grease. Mariano has been irrelevant the past couple post seasons because there has not been a need for a closer. Which brings me to the favorite rallying cry of Joba to the Penners. (thats what I call them).
Look at Mariano-He was supposed to be a starter and look what happened, hes the best closer ever. You, are correct. He is probably the best closer of all time and will never be duplicated. He is a freak of nature. He is able to repeat that smooth, carefree delivery with such ease and precision that he knows where the pitch will be almost all the time. This is not typical. In terms of closers there is Mo and then there is everyone else. So, trying to catch lightning in a bottle is probably futile.
More importantly however, Mariano did not have all the pitches this guy has. Joba has 4 plus-rated pitches in his arsenal. He is the quintessential Ace starter. He has enough pitches to turn over a lineup several times and can just reach back and throw gas if he needs to.
Finally, you want your best players to play as much as possible. As a starter, he will eventually pitch upwards of 200 innings, as a reliever-80.
If he stinks as a starter there is nothing that says he can't go back into the bullpen. He should be forced to show he can't hack it as a starter rather than never have been given the shot.
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3 comments:
This is a stupid debate. To lessen the chances (not eliminate, obviously) of Joba getting hurt and to find a successor to Mariano - they should have kept him in the pen.
There's no guarantee that Joba will be a great or even solid starter. Sure, he has great stuff - but there are many prospects who have great stuff who just couldn't cut it as a starter (think Andrew Miller, #1 pick to the Tigers a few years ago and now on the Marlins; or Generation K with the Mets back in the day). Of course, there are some that pan out (ie Lincecum) and some up and comers (like Max Scherer) but it's a tossup. The Yankees, obviously need some help everywhere and thus look at Joba as the "savior". He's not - remember he's still pretty inexperienced - and I think the Yankees are being shortsighted here.
Wait till Joba blows his elbow out later this year - and then we'll look back and see how right I was.
Look, this has been the plan the whole time. Just because Hank steinbrenner is running his mouth doesnt mean this is a panic move or they are being shortsighted. Read the article I linked to from the Daily News. Its from January. In it Cashman clearly states that the plan is to have Joba start and they will use him in the bullpen to conserve his innings. This has to be done because, as I said, you need to build up his innings from year to year so he can pitch a full season. This is anything from shortsighted. If anything, they are sacrificing success this year for long term success. Which, I am OK with if it means a healthy Joba in the rotation for years to come.
I don't know how much clearer I can be. College-Starter. A ball-Starter. AA ball-Starter. AAA ball-Starter. This is what he is. The whole point of the innings limit is to curtail injuries. He could just as easily blow out his arm in the Pen. Perhaps even easier given the fact that he has not done it for very long. Constantly getting up and down, emptying the tank one day and then having to pitch the next because everyone else sucks. (see Sturtz, Tanyon; Proctor, Scott et al.) Bullpens are graveyards for pitchers.
The successor to Mo is irrelevant without quality starters. How is this not crystal clear to everyone? Has Mariano even been a factor the past 6 years? No. He has not. Why? Because the Yanks rarely had a lead to save. Mariano is an unbelievable ace in the hole to have, but if the rest of the cards are shit, what does it matter?
Not giving him a chance to be an elite starting pitcher (which is what he projects to be and has been scouted as) because you are afraid of getting hurt is silly. Injuries are always a risk.
I also mentioned this in another thread: JB Cox and Mark Melancon. These guys are coming up and are just as highly touted as Joba was. You will see them in the 8th before the end of the season. Guaranteed.
You got one thing right though, this is a stupid debate.
Just to be clear, before anyone goes bonkers about my comment, I meant to write "has mariano even been a factor the past 6 years in the playoffs" Obviously during the season he has been a factor.
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