New Joba Rules

Overall the bullpen has been doing it’s job this season and the 7^th, 8^th & 9^th innings are locked down for the most part.  Joba has taken over the 7^th inning since Soriano is now Mo’s setup man.  He has been doing a great job with a few exceptions.  Joba has now pitched in 10 games so far (out of 16) and only allowed a hit in 4 of those games.  His ERA is 3.63 but it’s only that high due to three problematic outings this season.  The first came against Detroit in that opening series on April 3.  Joba allowed three hits & one run.  I like to think this was just a bad start for Joba.  There really doesn’t seem to be much reason to it.

The next hit he allowed was not until April 10 against Boston.  Joba did not have a good outing that game when he allowed 2 Hits, 2 Walks and 2 Earned Runs.  What should be noted is Joba pitched the day before against the Red Sox and delivered a scoreless inning.  It seems the Yankees used him two days in a row and he had some problems on the second day.

The Yankees then used him three games in a row on April 14, April 16 & April 17.  The first of those games, April 14, Joba was lights out for 1.2 innings allowing no hits.  This was possibly his best appearance so far this season.  He then pitched again two days later on the 16^th and pitched a scoreless inning, allowing only 1 hit. 

The Yankees then pushed their luck and used him two days in a row and three times in four days, when he pitched on the 17^th.  Joba had a terrible outing on the 17^th allowing his only blown save of the season.  He didn’t last a full inning either after Girardi pulled him after allowing a run.

It’s a very small sample size but it seems like Joba shouldn’t be pitching two days in a row.  When he pitches two games in a row, he gets hit hard and is wild.  Joba is actually having quite an impressive season and I think he looks better than last year already.  His slider looks like Joba from 2007 and his fastball is averaging 93.6 mph.  The highest his fastball hit this season, so far, was slightly higher than 96 mph. Last season he averaged a 94.6 mph fastball, but I have a feeling Joba’s velocity will get higher as the weather gets warmer and he adjusts.

 Maybe it’s time for Girardi to impose some new Joba rules, and not allow him to pitch two days in a row, at least for the first couple months of the season.  Robertson is always a good option when there is more than a 1 run lead.