Joba Back to the 'Pen?

[BoSox21]

According to the New York Post, the Yankees "have discussed" returning Joba Chamberlain (shoulder) to the bullpen once he comes off the disabled list.

 

Chamberlain is slated to begin a throwing program Friday and the newspaper suggests that a move back to relief work would be done with the intention of lessening the stress on his injured shoulder. Chamberlain is eligible to come off the shelf Wednesday, but there's no indication that he'll be ready then.

 

Rotoworld

 

 

Can't be good to putting the kid back and forth between the rotation and the bullpen

[BoSox21]

Joba Chamberlain (shoulder) threw a 45-pitch bullpen session Thursday and said afterward that he expects to return as a reliever.

 

Chamberlain is aiming to come off the disabled list next week, but before that can happen he'll throw a simulated game Saturday. Asked if he expects to resume starting, Chamberlain said: "I wouldn’t think so, just the way it has been. But who knows?" General manager Brian Cashman declined to address Chamberlain's role, saying only that he's "getting very close" to returning.

 

seriously, why not just shut him down for the year?

[yankees228]

seriously' date=' why not just shut him down for the year?[/quote']

 

They wouldn't be doing this if there was any possible risk for the injury to flare up again.

 

For a team that has recently been making moves for the future, they would not risk the future for a month.

[TheKilo]

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/yankees/2008/09/01/2008-09-01_joba_chamberlain_to_spend_rest_of_season.html

 

DETROIT - Joba Chamberlain is headed back to the bullpen.

 

The man Hank Steinbrenner recently called "the most dominant starting pitcher in baseball" will work the final month as a reliever after being activated from the disabled list before Tuesday's game.

 

"You have the chance to help the team win every day, whether it's giving them an inning or two or a hitter here or there," Chamberlain said. "You just have to get in there and do as much as you can, not try to do too much."

 

The Yankees haven't changed their mind - yet - about using Chamberlain as a starting pitcher going forward, but with less than four weeks remaining in the season, there wasn't enough time to build his pitch count up as a starter.

 

"In this situation, he can give us more valuable innings as a bullpen guy," Joe Girardi said. "This way, we can use him a lot more regularly."

 

Girardi and Brian Cashman said Chamberlain's future is in the rotation - though it seems that could change before spring training.

 

Please continue to switch his roles.

[BoSox21]

the uncertainty the Yankees keep displaying in how to deal with this kid would make me uneasy if I were a Yankees fan

[jacksonianmarch]

Trying to stir the pot again arent you bosox. LOL. This has more to do with Joba's innings than it does with his role. If you think about it, he's been kept from throwing in a game for a month. Most pitchers out a month need to start a rehab assignment. Start around 2-3IP, work up by an inning at a time and make their way back to the bigs in about 4 weeks or so as a starter. In 4 weeks, the season is over. So they can maximize his inning by using him 2 innings at a time every 3rd day. You can bet that they will have him in their rotation plans for next season as well and next yr they will do it right.

 

I had advocated for awhile that Joba move to the rotation. But you need to do it the right way. Look how Leyland did it with Verlander. Well, Justin's innings were pretty high that yr, but in the last 2 months, he started skipping him every 3rd start. This kept his innings from being Mark Prior high and has kept the kid injury free since. This is what we should do with Joba. Have him go 6IP a stint and start skipping him every 3rd or 4th start after the AS break.

[BoSox21]

I still think his right arm will make it to home plate before his fastball one day

[26 to 6]

That arm would have to be movin' pretty fast.

[BoSox21]

nah, he'll be throwing as hard as Jamie Moyer when he comes back

[a700hitter]

nah' date=' he'll be throwing as hard as Jamie Moyer when he comes back[/quote']I disagree. I think that Joba will be throwing as hard as he did before the injury, but the ball will get to Home Plate only as fast as a Jamie Moyer pitch.

[26 to 6]

nah' date=' he'll be throwing as hard as Jamie Moyer when he comes back[/quote']

Yeah, you wish.

[BudLight]

There's no sense in piling up innings as a starter, the season is done, have him throw out of the bullpen and he can work on extending his pitching over the winter to prepare him to be a starter next year. Smart move on the Yankees part. Let's not forget Masterson's situation when criticizing the Yankees on how they have handled Chamberlain this year.

[26 to 6]

Exactly. There's no indecisiveness going on here with the Yankees as to which role they think Joba is best suited for. Joba is going to be a starter, case closed. But at this point in the season, with all things considered regarding the current circumstances surrounding the Yankees it's best Joba just throw in relief for the rest of the month. Right now, that's whats best for him and the team. And if the Yankees are going to somehow miraculously resuscitate their postseason hopes (which is doubtful..I think the Yankees are dead), they're better suited to do that with Joba in the pen than in the rotation. He can impact more games, while limiting the strain that he would induce as a starter as he builds himself back up. You'll see him at the top of the rotation when 2009 rolls around in the new Stadium.

[TheKilo]

There's no sense in piling up innings as a starter' date=' the season is done, have him throw out of the bullpen and he can work on extending his pitching over the winter to prepare him to be a starter next year. Smart move on the Yankees part. Let's not forget Masterson's situation when criticizing the Yankees on how they have handled Chamberlain this year.[/quote']

 

Masterson didn't start the year as a reliever, then move to a starter, then move to a reliever.

[ARod2212]

Chamberlain wouldn't pitch again as a starter this year regardless. So we can get some high leverage innings out of him during a last ditch effort, or not have him at all.

 

Hmm, tough choice.

 

There's no indecisiveness in the organization. Chamberlain is a starter. If they were 10 games up right now, they'd be bringing him along to start Game 1 of the playoffs. As it is, they want him to get some work before the season ends.

[ORS]

Reports are that he will start the season as a RP next year as well. This being due to him pitching less than 100 IP (likely) when the season ends. This has me scratching my head. It's like they won't allow themselves to lose his services with the team for a couple of months to do what's really best for his transition / development into a starter.

 

He should start the year in EST on a regular throw schedule to build stamina and strength, throw a handful of starts in the minors, and then start for the big club from June 1 on. Instead, they are going start him in the BP then expect him to magically alter his workload mid-season, something that resulted in injury this year, to become a starter. This is woefully shortsighted.

 

I rarely celebrate injury, and I'll feel bad for Tubby if he gets hurt next year, but I may also cackle at this stupid FO for pushing the same button while expecting a different result.

[26 to 6]

I think rather than start him in the pen next year they should send him to the AFL or maybe even HWB. Specifically Hawaii because their season ends sooner than the Latin Winter Leagues. That'll let him get those innings up, and unless he's playing in one of the latin leagues he'll have time to rest and recooperate before spring training.

 

Dont see it happening though.

[ARod2212]

I don't see the correlation between Joba starting and his injury. Same thing could have happened in the bullpen.

[ORS]

You don't see correlation between shoulder tendonitis on the heels of increased workload for the shoulder?

[ARod2212]

You don't see correlation between shoulder tendonitis on the heels of increased workload for the shoulder?

I didn't know that's the only way to get shoulder tendonitis. Anybody throwing a ball can get it. Who's to say it wouldn't have happened if he stayed in the bullpen?

[a700hitter]

I didn't know that's the only way to get shoulder tendonitis. Anybody throwing a ball can get it. Who's to say it wouldn't have happened if he stayed in the bullpen?

Either way, it is alarming that he got tendinitis after only 89 innings of work.

[schillingouttheks]

I didn't know that's the only way to get shoulder tendonitis. Anybody throwing a ball can get it. Who's to say it wouldn't have happened if he stayed in the bullpen?

 

Well, it makes a pretty good amount of sense to correlate the two, no?

[BoSox21]

Posada: More injury risk for Joba in rotation than in bullpen

 

Associated Press

 

NEW YORK -- Jorge Posada wants Joba Chamberlain kept in the bullpen and predicts more injuries for the young pitcher if the New York Yankees put him in their starting rotation.

 

"I think if you start him and he pitches 200 innings in one year, you're going to lose him. He's going to get hurt. I don't see him as a starter," Posada said Monday during a session of "CenterStage," scheduled to air on the team's YES Network starting Sept. 28.

 

Chamberlain, the hard-throwing righty who turns 23 next week, began the season in the Yankees bullpen and then moved to the rotation in June. The plan was to limit his innings early and then make him a full-time starter.

 

He was sidelined from Aug. 4 to Sept. 2 because of rotator cuff tendinitis and went back to the bullpen when he returned.

 

"A little tendinitis, it just tells you a lot," Posada said after the TV interview.

 

Chamberlain was 3-1 with a 2.76 ERA in 12 starts, striking out 74 in 65 1/3 innings. He's 1-2 with a 2.29 ERA in 24 relief appearances, fanning 34 in 28 2/3 innings.

 

"I see him as a reliever. I think his body is made up for a reliever," Posada said.

 

The 37-year-old catcher had season-ending shoulder surgery June 30 and expects to return behind the plate for New York next season, anticipating he can catch 120 to 130 games.

 

With the Yankees almost certain to miss the playoffs for the first time since 1993, he says the team must go into the free-agent market to repair its starting rotation. CC Sabathia, Ben Sheets and A.J. Burnett are their chief targets.

 

"We're pretty much going to be in it, but you don't know if those guys are going to want to come here," Posada said. "I hope they do."

 

On another topic, Posada voiced anger toward Pedro Martinez for the 2003 brawl between the Yankees and the Red Sox during the AL Championship Series.

 

"I thought he was going to hit me in the head with a bat, after we had the fight and he pushed Don Zimmer. It was ridiculous. I mean, he throws at Karim Garcia because he's losing the game. I mean, there's no class," Posada said.

 

It might have been an uncomfortable situation had Posada signed with the New York Mets after the 2007 season. He would have had to catch Martinez.

 

"You try to forget about the past and look forward," Posada said.

 

ESPN.com

 

LOL

[Gom]

He's entitled to his opinion. I wouldn't really mind either way.