The Joba-t0-the-pen debate rages on, even in the wake of the kid's impressive 8-inning outing against the Indians. I, for one, want Joba to remain in the starting rotation, although I do miss the energy of his late-game appearances. When he first came up, his appearances, which were initially limited to every other day because of the famous "Joba Rules," became an event, bordering, at times, on pandemonium. Of course, it wasn't simply Joba's one inning of dominance that caught people's attention. It was his fearlessness, his un-Yankee-like histrionics that got people going. His nasty slider and 100-mph fastball didn't hurt either. As I wrote following Joba's eventual 12-strike out performance against the Red Sox earlier this year, Joba needs a certain level of intensity, a specific knock-and-tumble vigor to succeed, whether he's pitching in the 8th inning or every fifth day. Yes, I think Joba should start, but I also want him to be Joba, "disrespectful" fist pumps and all. These two things aren't mutually exclusive; in fact, they're symbiotic.
Still, despite the constant protestations of RAB and Tyler Kepner and, yup, the Yankees, members of the media--specifically Mike Francesa and ESPN-- seem to think Joba, who they consider the next Goose Gossage, should be coming out of the pen. Nothing short of a Cy Young Award, it seems, can dissuade them of their short-sighted opinions about Joba's usefulness to the club. And I'm fine with that. They're entitled to their opinion, no matter how misguided or uninformed it happens to be. Some people still vote Republican, after all. It's nice, though, to have a national voice weigh in on the debate. SI's Tim Marchman speaks the truth thusly:
Starters are more valuable than relievers, and Chamberlain is showing every sign of developing into a wonderful starter; therefore, he should start. Simple.
[Snip]
There are complicated decisions to be made in baseball. Neither this nor any similar argument involving any young pitcher is really one of them. If Chamberlain is hurt, or if the Yankees obtain access to a time machine and learn that he really is much better than Mariano Rivera, they should by all means listen to the outraged minority and consign to the bullpen a 23-year-old with every chance at being the best pitcher they've developed since Whitey Ford. Otherwise, they should leave him alone where everyone can enjoy him. He's doing fine.I'd say he's doing better than fine, but let's not argue about semantics. Joba's proving his worth in the rotation, right where he belongs.
2 comments:
Mike Francesa is a moron. I've been listening to WFAN more the past few months (for some reason), and the only guys I can stand are "Joe and Evan in the midday." They seem like normal guys who talk (mostly) respectfully about stuff. That guy "Carton" who's on with Boomer in the mornings is just awful -- like, an awful human being -- and Francesa's one of these guys who thinks he's actually much smarter than other people because he takes calls from Harvey in the Bronx on the radio everyday. Yes, Mike, you're a regular genius.
carton is despicable. as for francesa, some guy called in the other day to talk about the belmont stakes. he asked, "mike, what are the odds on the horse, "you need a cohost?"
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