Thursday, June 19, 2008

Joba Rules!

Well I guess I put up the first post, number 100 might as well be me too.

The Joba era looks like it is about to hit full stride. It was another solid outing today and his walk total continues to diminish while the strike outs are starting to sky rocket. It's also a testament to his maturation that he wiggled his way out of some pretty tough jams, including a bases loaded nobody out situation in the second inning.

If Joba continues to step up then Cashman wont have to panic and there wont be as much pressure for him to go out and sell the farm for a big name starter.

It's also nice to see that one of the big three is finally making Cashman look good. Hughes and Kennedy are still going to have to play a big role in the rotation as the season moves deeper and deeper into summer.

Mike Mussina may be a beast right now but obviously no one expects him to continue putting up numbers like he has. Pettitte will be Andy Pettitte, meaning he will continue to pitch well and will probably end up eating up 200+ innings and winning 15 games. Rasner seems to be working fine for right now and hopefully he keeps it up but I don't know how much the Yankees can hope to keep getting out of him. And nobody knows what they're going to get from Dan Giese. I would suspect that he wont be long for this rotation, maybe piecing together a start here and there but not much more.

Hughes and Kennedy will rehab their injuries and probably get some extended time in the minors before the finally get called back up. But they will be back, the Yankees will need them to pick up starts here and there and to eat innings.

Even though it is a lot to put on such a young starter, Joba is the lynch pin for this year's rotation. Every other part of the pitching staff is pretty much a known, but Joba is an unknown. He could be lights out or he could eventually show that he needs more seasoning like his young counter parts. Today's start was just a glimpse of what Joba needs to do for the Yankees.

6 comments:

Dennis said...

All true, but will Hank "Everyone needs the DH" Steinbrenner really accept them not making the playoffs this season?

I don't think they need to trade for a front line starter the likes of Sabathia, but at the very least they need a veteran innings eater like Paul Byrd or Jarod Washburn. Maybe even Freddy Garcia would get the job done.

Dan said...

I happened to be in the car listening to the radio during that early jam that Joba got out of. He benefitted from some over anxious baserunning that allowed the Yanks to get the runner out at home following a passed ball by Molina. But kudos to Joba for covering the plate as alertly as he did.

The Yanks had better watch out for Hank. It reminds me of The Godfather when the Don goes semi-retired then Michael starts killing people.

Joe said...

Joba did look good and I know Dennis hates when people do this, but I think Joba will have a CY Young (barring any injuries) in the next 3-5 years.
The yanks need one more innings eater, i will be curious to see who they get. You can'y rely on the thuggness of Sidney Ponson to get you to the promised land.

Dennis said...

Well, considering I will be living in NYC for the next few years, I better get used to overhyped Yankees prospects and the fans who love them.

We will finally pick up the keys to our apartment on July 4th by the way.

Peter said...

Joba is far from overhyped. And Kennedy and Hughes have yet to have enough time to be declared overrated.

Plus Hank doesn't have to settle for the Yankees not making the playoffs yet. They are still very much in the race and I would money on the Yankees before the Rays or the O's.

Dennis said...

I think you have to admit they have all been overhyped. Joba would have to have thrown 5 straight no-hitters to have lived up to his hype.

As for the Yankees making the playoffs, they may yet do it, but the law of averages says that they will have to miss out one of these years. My point was, if we reach late July and the Yankees are still hovering just above .500, will Steinbrenner force a panic trade, or even go over Cashman's head and make a trade himself? So far in his reign Hank has talked a lot, but allowed Cashman to make the baseball decisions.

As of today, they are 40-34, 5 games behind in the division and 3.5 games behind in the wild card. I think they are in pretty good shape, but they are still one bad road trip away from .500. Truth is, this is Prince Hank's first season in charge, and none of us know what he will do.