(Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)
Joba could even do that! In fact, Joba is not that bad this season at 4-2, 4.04 ERA, and he is even better on the road with a 4-0 record, 2.74 ERA. Also, Joba’s last seven starts have seen him go 2-1, 4.12 ERA and the Yankees are 6-1 in those seven starts.
How is that not doing well for a 23 year old pitcher, basically in his first full season as a starter? He is helping his team win games. Could Joba be a victim of the new, new Yankee Stadium (it's really the third one), as his home/road splits testify?
He is figuring out how to be a starting pitcher. Were we so mesmerized by his awesome 2007 season, that we think he should be like that all the time? It is not possible to be that good. No pitcher can be like that all the time, and I have yet to see a pitcher win every start he makes.
Even Sandy Koufax got shelled during his great run from 1962-1966. And his first couple years in the majors were horrendous. Even Addie Joss wasn’t that good compared to Joba’s first season.
With the role he was given at the beginning of his career, and when you have the type of stuff Joba has, it is very difficult for other teams to hit him very well. In that scenario, the pitcher will usually dominate—and dominate Joba did. But this is the major leagues, and major league hitters adjust to pitchers (see J. Verlander in 2008), but it is then the pitchers job to adjust back (see again J. Verlander in 2009).
We said above that the Yankees are 6-1 in Joba’s last seven starts, but the recent terrible game against the Toronto Blue Jays is causing such alarm. Lets compare Joba’s last seven starts to another starting pitcher in the majors:
JOBA CHAMBERLAIN (2-1, 4.12 ERA, 1.48 WHP) Team record 6-1
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