Hey, this is The Genius.
Is Joba for real??? i mean seriously...is this guy walking around on the same planet as the rest of us??? O.k. a phenom in college at Nebraska where he helped the Cornhuskers reach the 2005 college world series, going 10-2 with a 2.81 ERA on the year. The Yankees draft him 41st overall in the 2006 draft, and Chamberlain was ranked as the 75th best prospect goin into the 2007 season. When the Yankees finally called upon him, it seemed like this fantastic prospect was the real deal. The talk was, will this be the guy to replace undeniably the best closer in the game in Mariano Rivera. He sure looked like he has the stuff. An over-powering fastball with what looked like impecable control. Ahh but the baseball gods had something else in mind. Somewhere down the road to fame, somebody told Joba that he was a great pitcher, agreed, and should be a starter, disagree. His numbers were lets just say mediocre with a 4.75 ERA and 133 strikeouts in 157 innings in 2009. Now i don't know about you but that doesn't strike me as good numbers, and you can come up with whatever excuse you want as to why he had a bad season, blah blah blah.. In 2007 his ERA was .38 in 24 innings, in 2008 he racked up 100 innings with only 4 wins, and a 2.61 ERA. and now he's up to 4.75??? Numbers don't lie, the kids not a starter, and after watching the disgusting inning in game 3 against the Angels, i wonder whether he can handle the pressure in virtually any situation. I mean come on... Sure pressure affects people in different ways, but what the hell happened between 2007 and now?? How do the Yankees get him back to the stud set up guy who put up some serious numbers? ? ? THATS IT! Make him a set up guy!! Oh wait! The Yankees already have one in Hughes. So now the role that chamberlain was supposed to take is being filled by a pitcher who seems to be able to handle it. Man, this just doesn't seem to be working, and something tells me the Yankee brass is thinking the same thing. With the uneventful year that Chien-Ming Wang had, and Chamberlains struggles, the bottom of the order needs some support. Depending on what Mr. Micro-manage EVERYTHING, Joe Girardi decides what to do with him through the remainder of the playoffs, Joba may be very much expendable after this season. Joba's head is more screwed up than an Ghandi working on the grill at burger king, and at least i feel like his days with the Yankees are numbered. With every opportunity he screws up, he gives another opportunity to someone else, and sooner or later he's gonna run out of opportunities all together.