Joba Chamberlain finally got his full season to start and things didn't turn out as the Yankees had hoped. His splits crashed and he wasn't the same pitcher. At the same time Phil Hughes established himself in the bullpen after being unable to stay healthy in the starting role.
In the minors Chamberlain had an elite strikeout rate and continued to show that in the majors as a reliever. Overall a pitcher will always have lower strikeout rate as a starter and you can see that in his career K/9 as a starter in the majors at 8.4, while 11.9 as a reliever. That number is still a great number, but something happened this year. His K/9 dropped to 7.61 and his walks rose as well.
This has to be partly due to his loss in velocity going from 97 in 2007 to 95 in 2008. He then dropped to 92.5 this year as a full time starter. There is obviously some velocity drop being a starter to preserve his arm. I have the feeling this amount has some to do with his shoulder problems in 2008.
February 3, 2010
Troy Patterson
