Written by Greg Fertel
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07 August 2007
The Yanks are currently up 8-2 in the top of the 8th, and Joba Chamberlain will be pitching the bottom of the 8th, making his Major League debut. This is a good situation for Joba, as the big lead takes away some of the pressure (although I'm sure he's still feeling the butterflies). Hopefully he does well.
1st Inning
1st batter: Fell behind 3-1, got strike 2 on a fastball, then shook off Posada and struck out Olmedo on a slider that dove out of the zone. That's some confidence for a guy making his major league debut to shake off a veteran catcher.
2nd batter: Joba got ahead 0-2 on Reed Johnson, then he grounded out weakly to 2nd base.
3rd batter: Lyle Overbay walked on a full count after Joba missed inside with a fastball. Let's see how he does out of the stretch.
4th batter: Alex Rios fell behind 0-2 looking at a fasball and then swinging at a slider. He then lined a single to center (which Melky Cabrera almost caught).
5th batter: Got ahead of Vernon Wells with a slider on the outside corner. Wells flew out to left on the 2nd pitch, a 97 MPH fastball.
2nd inning
1st batter: Curtis Thigpen (hitting for Frank Thomas) fell behind 0-2 to Joba, whiffing on the first fastball and fouling the 2nd one bat. Thigpen struck out swinging on a slider away, at 87 MPH, which e of the zone.
2nd batter: Hector Luna hit for Troy Glaus against Joba. Joba walked Luna on 4 pitches, and his fastball command looked a little erratic.
3rd batter: Joba got ahead of Aaron Hill 1-2 on a fastball out of the zone, and swinging strikes on 2 sliders that broke out of the zone. On a 2-2 count, Joba induced an easy 4-6-3 double play, and gave an emphatic fist pump to celebrate his performance and the Yankee victory.
The overall impression of Joba is very good. In 2 scoreless innings, he struck out 2, walked 2, and allowed 1 hit. He threw 33 pitches, 19 for strikes (a ratio that could be improved) and induced 3 groundball outs (if the DP counts for 2) against 1 flyout
His fastball was consistently between 95-97, and it touched 99 once according to the stadium gun. The slider had great bite, and was around 87-89 MPH. He was able to get swinging strikes by dropping it off the table, and also threw the slider in the zone for called strikes. His fastball command was not amazing, but he got the job done. I didn't see any curveballs or changeups, but maybe he'll work one in here or there.
In terms of intangibles, it was encouraging to see Joba have the confidence to shake off Posada and throw his slider in a full count. I also like how he showed emotion with his fist pump at the end of the game, and he could bring some energy to the bullpen. Overall, a promising debut for Joba, and I expect more strong pitching from him in the future. He looks like a setup man at least, and quite possibly a shutdown bridge to Rivera.
