Yankee Talk: Joba makes his case

Chamberlain outing bodes well for Yanks playoff run

NEW YORK – Rarely do you hear this much discussion over a pitcher who will likely not be used until the fourth game of the second playoff series.

For those that keep a very short memory, the Yankees have lost their last three Division Series, rendering any plans moot. However, with a team as strong and as powerful as those late 90’s championship teams, many people have decided to look ahead into the future and spot any possible pitfalls.

Enter Joba Chamberlain.

The man who has been a lightning rod for discussion all year based on how he has pitched. There has been “Good Joba” and there has been “Bad Joba”. Each extreme a cause for overanalyzing to the umpteenth degree, but has at least made for good conversation on TV and talk radio.

Last night, Joba showed you every reason why he should be getting that start in the playoffs. His six inning of three-run ball explained that the upside of what he can give you far exceeds anything that any other alternative you can put out there will give you.

Needing to prove that he had not been “ruined” as some scribes and others have claimed, Chamberlain from the outset came out an immediately established a dominating tone.

Early in his starts, his velocity would be several miles lower and had problems with his control, leading to walks and eventually runs scoring, particularly in the first inning. Tonight, it was three up and three down. Two groundouts a lazy fly-out to end the frame.

In fact, the first 11 Boston hitters did not reach base - all of them going back to the dugout without a positive result to show for it. Victor Martinez then dashed any hopes for a perfect game with a home run to right center for their first hit and run.

Chamberlain had his biggest trouble in the fifth when he allowed a leadoff single to Jason Bay and a double to left center by JD Drew. In previous starts, this is where he would have problems minimizing damage and allowed games to run away from him. At 23, you do not expect him to have the maturity of a veteran yet; these are the growing pains. With a sizeable division lead and the playoffs nearing, this was a good test for him to see if he would be able to battle his way out this self-created hole.

He was able to get Jason Varitek to weakly foul out to third. Then, Chamberlain struck out Alex Gonzalez and got the final out when Jacoby Ellsbury groundout to first base, holding the Red Sox to nothing in the inning when they could have mounted one of their patented rallies.

It was a confidence booster for him and the team. What it showed was that he had the ability to curb the damage and stop the other team cold. The ability to make batters swing and miss and eventually get weak swings for outs is something that is invaluable in the postseason as opposed to the regular season grind.

While he gave up a two-run homer to David Ortiz in the sixth, it did not put a damper on his performance, allowing only three runs and five hits in six innings, striking out five and only walking one. Ten of his 18 outs came on either groundouts or pop ups, while seven times Red Sox hitters swung and missed.

Since his last start against the Red Sox back in August, Chamberlain had gone 0-4 in eight starts with an ERA of 8.42. Those numbers are not just bad, they were bordering on Chien-Ming Wang bad. With the team putting an innings cap (160) and shuffling his starts to different days in order to achieve this number, his performance struggled. It was getting to the point that some in the (drive-by) media slowly began to sing the praise of recently acquired Chad Gaudin to be the Yankees Game 4 starter if they reach the American League Championship Series.

Ask yourself this, would you really want Gaudin starting Game 4 of a series in Fenway Park or Angel Stadium with the Yankees trailing 2-1 and “needing” the game. While Gaudin has pitched well in his starts, he needs more things to go right for him because he does not possess the pitching stuff necessary to win in the playoffs. Too many things have to go right for him in order to be successful. The hitters have to fall for his assortment of breaking stuff and if they are not, he is for lack of a better word, screwed. Chamberlain at least has the ability to stifle a lineup because he has the stuff and if it is working on the night, not many teams are going to hit it.

Such thoughts should have taken as ridiculous anyway, but Chamberlain’s performance had allowed it to be a discussion topic based on his own ineffective and sometime putrid performance. His only real stretch that could have been a bright spot was his first three starts after the All-Star break when he went 3-0 with a 2.03 ERA and made many wonder if had finally turned that elusive corner.

Unfortunately, he had not done that. Now, questions were surrounding him. Manager Joe Girardi called for him to “step up”. The challenge was being thrown out going into his start. Stink the joint out again and you maybe finding yourself on the relegated to long relief instead of being given the honor of starting a playoff game of such magnitude.

On this night, Joba made his case.

The methods may have been unorthodox, but they have been able to get him through the season healthy and over 30 starts. All the Yankees need from him to deliver two solid postseason performances when they give him the ball.

Chamberlain has earned that chance.