Chamberlain breathes fire, shows flashes from past
BOSTON – JD Drew knew it. Jorge Posada knew it. More importantly, Joba Chamberlain knew it.
As Drew took a half swing through a filthy slider on 2-1 touching 88 on the radar gun inside Fenway Park, you could hear the “ooh” from the crowd. At the plate, you could see the groan on the face of Drew, made to look so foolish that he could not even take a full hack to even the count.
Chamberlain unleashed another slider. Drew swung and got nothing but air and dirt, striking out to end the inning.
Wow.
Consider me still in a state of shock and awe.
Surely my eyes did not just witness what I saw take place. Before Drew, Adrian Beltre stood no chance against a fastball that sunk straight out of the strike zone at 96, looking like 100.
Two batters. Two strikeouts and an eighth inning lead preserved.
It was just like old times for Joba Chamberlain.
As he walked off the mound, he pumped his fists in vindication, celebrating a job well done, but also making a statement that there is man with intensity, fire and an above-90’s fastball and killer slider still inside of him.
For the last two seasons, the wide-ranging, hair-splitting debate has been whether Joba Chamberlain would be suited better to be a starting pitcher, or the man in charge of getting the ball to Mariano Rivera.
We all remember the start he had to his career. Coming into games late and blowing hitters away with an explosive fastball and buckling slider that gave hitters little to no chance.
He originally came up as a starter, but converted to the bullpen to help the club and was so dominant that many looked at as the heir to Rivera. The next season, the team built him back into a starter during the middle of the year and things were going very well until a shoulder injury derailed him.
Last year, the goal was to make him a starter and keep him under a leash to make sure he did not overwork his arm.
This became known as “The Joba Rules”.
While he had some good starts, the rest of his season became mired in inconsistency.
The Yankees went to creative measures to make sure they would not exceed his innings cap, and in essence played mental games with him. However, as you watched him pitch closely, the same fire he used to have had been put out, replaced by a man forced to over-think and conserving himself by not throwing as hard, leading to worse results.
On the way to winning a world championship, Chamberlain returned to the bullpen where his velocity ticked back up and you could see the comfort level that he had out there. The man wants to attack and not nibble. He is a fighter, not a lover. He is a man that wants to be somewhat on the edge and let loose all of his emotion.
It is very difficult to do that over the course of 100 pitches and nearly 160 innings. Try doing it and you will find yourself burnt out in due time.
The 2010 season was to be year where he could let loose. Training wheels would be off, giving the team a look at what type of pitcher (without restrictions) he can be. However, privately the Yankees felt that Hughes would be a better starter and Chamberlain would be best suited for the team to come out of the bullpen.
He came into the game on Sunday with the Yankees trailing by a run and again his velocity was still not there. The control was not there and the Red Sox took advantage.
Questions lingered that the “old Joba” was no longer in existence, replaced by the man who is a shell of his former self. 98 on the gun now showing 92. A filthy slider turned into a pitch hitter simply lay off as they wait for him to throw enough strikes.
Fast-forward 48 hours. The Yankees lead the Red Sox by one run in the bottom of the eighth inning at Fenway. Kevin Youkilis is on second base representing the tying run and this leaves Chamberlain with no margin for error otherwise that would result in a tie game.
As he threw, you see that he possessed no fear and wanted the game in his hands. When Beltre swung late at a fastball, you could see that something was different about this version of Chamberlain.
The emphatic results eventually spoke for themselves.
The hope is that the fire-breathing, flame-throwing, emotions-on-his-sleeve reliever returns to help solidify the late innings alongside Rivera. Having that tandem with the starting pitching the team possesses will make an already tremendous team, utterly dominant.
Now the Yankees wish this is what they can expect from him going forward.
BOSTON – JD Drew knew it. Jorge Posada knew it. More importantly, Joba Chamberlain knew it.
As Drew took a half swing through a filthy slider on 2-1 touching 88 on the radar gun inside Fenway Park, you could hear the “ooh” from the crowd. At the plate, you could see the groan on the face of Drew, made to look so foolish that he could not even take a full hack to even the count.
Chamberlain unleashed another slider. Drew swung and got nothing but air and dirt, striking out to end the inning.
Wow.
Consider me still in a state of shock and awe.
Surely my eyes did not just witness what I saw take place. Before Drew, Adrian Beltre stood no chance against a fastball that sunk straight out of the strike zone at 96, looking like 100.
Two batters. Two strikeouts and an eighth inning lead preserved.
It was just like old times for Joba Chamberlain.
As he walked off the mound, he pumped his fists in vindication, celebrating a job well done, but also making a statement that there is man with intensity, fire and an above-90’s fastball and killer slider still inside of him.
For the last two seasons, the wide-ranging, hair-splitting debate has been whether Joba Chamberlain would be suited better to be a starting pitcher, or the man in charge of getting the ball to Mariano Rivera.
We all remember the start he had to his career. Coming into games late and blowing hitters away with an explosive fastball and buckling slider that gave hitters little to no chance.
He originally came up as a starter, but converted to the bullpen to help the club and was so dominant that many looked at as the heir to Rivera. The next season, the team built him back into a starter during the middle of the year and things were going very well until a shoulder injury derailed him.
Last year, the goal was to make him a starter and keep him under a leash to make sure he did not overwork his arm.
This became known as “The Joba Rules”.
While he had some good starts, the rest of his season became mired in inconsistency.
The Yankees went to creative measures to make sure they would not exceed his innings cap, and in essence played mental games with him. However, as you watched him pitch closely, the same fire he used to have had been put out, replaced by a man forced to over-think and conserving himself by not throwing as hard, leading to worse results.
On the way to winning a world championship, Chamberlain returned to the bullpen where his velocity ticked back up and you could see the comfort level that he had out there. The man wants to attack and not nibble. He is a fighter, not a lover. He is a man that wants to be somewhat on the edge and let loose all of his emotion.
It is very difficult to do that over the course of 100 pitches and nearly 160 innings. Try doing it and you will find yourself burnt out in due time.
The 2010 season was to be year where he could let loose. Training wheels would be off, giving the team a look at what type of pitcher (without restrictions) he can be. However, privately the Yankees felt that Hughes would be a better starter and Chamberlain would be best suited for the team to come out of the bullpen.
He came into the game on Sunday with the Yankees trailing by a run and again his velocity was still not there. The control was not there and the Red Sox took advantage.
Questions lingered that the “old Joba” was no longer in existence, replaced by the man who is a shell of his former self. 98 on the gun now showing 92. A filthy slider turned into a pitch hitter simply lay off as they wait for him to throw enough strikes.
Fast-forward 48 hours. The Yankees lead the Red Sox by one run in the bottom of the eighth inning at Fenway. Kevin Youkilis is on second base representing the tying run and this leaves Chamberlain with no margin for error otherwise that would result in a tie game.
As he threw, you see that he possessed no fear and wanted the game in his hands. When Beltre swung late at a fastball, you could see that something was different about this version of Chamberlain.
The emphatic results eventually spoke for themselves.
The hope is that the fire-breathing, flame-throwing, emotions-on-his-sleeve reliever returns to help solidify the late innings alongside Rivera. Having that tandem with the starting pitching the team possesses will make an already tremendous team, utterly dominant.
Now the Yankees wish this is what they can expect from him going forward.
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