Joba Chamberlain, Starter or Reliever?

[bcshorts]

Joba Chamberlain's performance - and numbers - as a starter have been very unimpressive to say the least.

This season, he has posted a 3.94 ERA with a 1.81 WHIP and only 11 strikeouts to 10 walks in 16 innings pitched. He is unable to go deep into games, failing to reach the seventh inning in his three starts this year. His velocity is down, and he is not using his passion and aggression to his advantage as he did in relief.

The Yankees bullpen has been very bad this year, with no one successfully setting up Mariano Rivera. A move to the bullpen would give the Yankees one of the strongest 8th and 9th inning combos in the majors, and would allow Bruney to pitch the 7th, and Marte to move back to his role as a lefty specialist. In effect, it would go a very long ways to solve New York's bullpen struggles.

But is it the right move to make? The rotation has had it's own share of troubles, most notably from the Chien-Ming Wang. Whatever that is. Anyways, one has to figure that Sabathia, a notoriously slow starter (4.51 career April ERA) and Burnett will work their problems out. Andy Pettitte, meanwhile, has been everything the Yankees could've wanted and more. Phil Hughes has pitched very well in the minors, and brought that success with him in his season debut last night. Ian Kennedy is also pitching well in the minors, and the Yankees have a couple of other options to consider as well.

Joba Chamberlain makes his fourth start tonight at Detroit. So I ask, should the Yankees consider moving Chamberlain back to the bullpen, or continue to stick with him as a starter. You decide.

[love_that_reefer]

We all know my thoughts. Joba is best served as a reliever for the Yankees and for that right arm of his. They should wait til Wang comes back or the rotation to be more settled but sometime this year he should be moved and moved for good.

[browntown653]

He's been a starter his whole life. He's only 23. He should stay a starter.

[browntown653]

And I think Peter Abraham of the Yankees LoHud Blog sums it up as well as it can be summed up:

Here is what some people can’t seem to understand: Joba threw 100 innings last season. He needs to throw 150-plus this season so that in 2010 he can throw 180-plus. Then he can throw 200-plus in 2011 and so on. This is a young man with a great arm, four pitches and the makeup to be an ace. The Yankees would be foolish not to give him every chance to be a starter.

If you send him back to the bullpen, you’re starting the process all over again and increasing the risk of injury by suddenly changing his role. Joba has a 2.43 ERA in 15 starts over the last two seasons. That is really, really, very, very good.

[missionhockey21]

Chamberlain's talent was both a blessing and a curse. Since his stuff was so advanced for the minors and he was with a team who needed all the help they could get to compete, he rose rapidly. This means he missed out on building endurance, which is one of the most crucial steps of development for pitchers. His work in the pen really didn't help things either. I look at Chamberlain like I would at any pitching prospect, he needs to build innings and he will have inconsistency while doing it. If he was 26 or 27, this would be a different story. At 23 though, a carefully mapped development plan with patience attached to it would be the best course of action. Would he be more effective in the pen? Yep, his stuff is pure electricity. Does he have more value over the long haul from the rotation? Absolutely. Just growing pains for now.

[Hammer]

starter... if he was on the royals or pirates there would be no question. because hes on the yankees and the yankees NEED TO WIN RIGHT THIS SECOND !?! this is being questioned.

[browntown653]

Chamberlain's talent was both a blessing and a curse. Since his stuff was so advanced for the minors and he was with a team who needed all the help they could get to compete, he rose rapidly. This means he missed out on building endurance, which is one of the most crucial steps of development for pitchers. His work in the pen really didn't help things either. I look at Chamberlain like I would at any pitching prospect, he needs to build innings and he will have inconsistency while doing it. If he was 26 or 27, this would be a different story. At 23 though, a carefully mapped development plan with patience attached to it would be the best course of action. Would he be more effective in the pen? Yep, his stuff is pure electricity. Does he have more value over the long haul from the rotation? Absolutely. Just growing pains for now.

starter... if he was on the royals or pirates there would be no question. because hes on the yankees and the yankees NEED TO WIN RIGHT THIS SECOND !?! this is being questioned.

Thank you both.

The guy is a 23 year old stud with all the talent in the world. He's not Cy Young throwing complete games every outing right now. Well isn't that a shame. There's no reason anyone should expect him to be. Does the bullpen suck right now? Sure. But Bruney was dominant, unfortunately he'll be on the DL for a few weeks, but when he returns the Yanks have a 7-8-9 combo of Melancon/Bruney/Rivera that should be awesome. And not a single pitcher in this bullpen with the exception of the recent callup Melancon is as bad as they've been pitching this year. So let's all relax for a moment.

[cjkalt]

He's not a stud when he is throwing 91-92, now if he gets it up to 95 then he should be a starting pitcher but if he can't he won't be anything special. You can find other guys to have a 4ish ERA but you can't find dominating 8th inning guys anywhere

[NYgiantsfan5689]

Joba is 4-1 with a 2.85 ERA as a starter. By all means, let’s return him to the bullpen.

Peter Abraham's words of wisdom. I'd love to hear those people who want him in the bullpen argue with success.

He's not a stud when he is throwing 91-92, now if he gets it up to 95 then he should be a starting pitcher but if he can't he won't be anything special. You can find other guys to have a 4ish ERA but you can't find dominating 8th inning guys anywhere

4ish ERA? See above

[browntown653]

7 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 3 BB, 6 K tonight. He should be in the bullpen, the Yankees will get that kinda production anywhere.

[DirtyKash]

True, but the Yankees bullpen did almost blow it again. 8-1 became 8-6 in a hurry.

[TheRollingStoned]

Where's the DUI class option at? WHERE BSCHORES?

[realmofotalk]

As long as he's not pitching like crap as a starter, 5 to 6 innings in which Joba controls your team's fate in the game is always better than 1 to 2 innings.

[Foster]

I think I was the "maybe later in the year"
If he keeps going like he is now though, that time may be a long time away.

[DirtyKash]

Update: 4.34 ERA and 1.51 WHIP.