Joba Chamberlain – Fire Brand of the American League

With Opening Night tomorrow pitting arguably Major League Baseball’s most heated rivalry and two best teams, the seemingly around-the-clock sports media coverage has dissected the match up from nearly all angles. One that has not gotten as much coverage as Joba Chamberlain or Phil Hughes in the rotation or the Red Sox run prevention, but could be the deciding factor after 162, is which team can keep their stars on the field and out of the trainer room.

Will Carroll of Baseball Prospectus has a system that measures a player’s probability of spending time on the disabled list. It is color-coded -- red, yellow, or green -- with red being highest risk of injury. As Carroll states: “I don't try to predict the location of the injury or the severity. Instead, it's binary: either a player hits the DL at some point during the year, or he doesn't.”

April 3, 2010 tom fratamico

Joba Chamberlain

AL East Sleepers: New York Yankees

Boston Red Sox at New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium in New York

For a team that won the 2009 league championship while standing atop the AL East leaderboards for much of the past decade, the team would seem, at first glance, bereft of sleepers. Not so, however, even for these ’09 defending champions. A favorite even at this early juncture in Spring Training, the club could get even better by the time the season rolls around. SP/RP Phil Hughes Hughes is – and for quite some time has been – one of the best young pitchers in affiliated baseball. It was not so long ago – three years to be exact – that Phil Hughes was the best pitching prospect in the game, edging out Cincinnati’s Homer Bailey for that honor. Though hamstring injuries and bouts of wildness slowed down his progress during the ’07 and ’08 campaigns, Hughes came back with a vengeance last season, reminding all bystanders why he was once such a highly touted prospect. Still just 23 years old, the Yankees owe it to Hughes and to themselves to give the hurler another shot at a full-time rotation gig. Worth 2.2 wins last season, that number could easily swell to four or five if he pitches up to his potential...

February 22, 2010 mike silver

Joba Chamberlain

Projecting the Yankees number five pitcher

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

Boston Red Sox

NYY 9, BOS 3 – Sox Lose More Than Lester

Friday was a night where the Red Sox had a great chance to send their division rivals a message. Instead, they stumbled from the get-go, falling behind 5-0 before they broke the shutout (and no-hitter) in the fourth.

The game was shaky from the beginning, as the Sox were retired in order in the first. Lester looked sharp for the first two innings; particularly in the first when Mark Teixeira chased an outside pitch for a strikeout. Still, the Yanks were able to plate a run on a stolen base and two singles.

The game was quiet through the second inning but, it was all down hill from there.

The Yankees were able to tack on four runs in the third, an inning that also saw Lester leave the game after a Melky Cabrera liner caught him in the leg.

September 26, 2009 mike silver

Game Threads

9/25: Lester in New York

GAME NOTES: Jon Lester, the probable ace in October, duels against Joba Chamberlain who is fighting for his rotation spot (versus Chad Gaudin).

September 25, 2009 evan brunell

Category: Joba Chamberlain