Joba Chamberlain introduced himself to the major leagues with a hellacious fastball that burned through opposing hitters in the late innings of games. Charged with getting three outs, Chamberlain held nothing back and regularly popped big numbers on the radar gun. That fastball set up a killer slider and a star was born.
Throughout Spring Training, though, Chamberlain hasn't been throwing that fastball. He's in the low 90's, raising questions about the health of his arm and the suitability of his spot in the starting rotation. Manager Joe Girardi spoke to the New York Post and said that he expected to see Chamberlain's velocity improve, but that no one should expect to see it close to the century mark consistently.
"But you are not going to see it [consistently], because he has to throw his fastball more than 12 times an inning or 10 times or eight times. That's pretty much true for all relievers. Starters who go to relievers jump a few miles an hour."
The article quotes several different observers with several different reasons why Chamberlain isn't dialing up extra-special fastballs. Many of them have to do with his mechanics, something the Yankees are stressing as they try to build the consistent motion that Chamberlain will need to succeed. Once that's down, they say, the fastball will be just fine. All of the focus on velocity has given fuel to the camp that believes Chamberlain is best suited to a bullpen role where he can show off the speed without worrying about hanging around the game for six or seven innings.
Lost in all of the discussion of speed, however, is the fact that Chamberlain has struck out 14 batters in 14 innings. That level of success is far more important than any reading on a radar gun, especially when you're talking about a pitcher who has to face the same hitters three times in a game. Good hitters can sit on and hit the best of fastballs when they know it is coming, so a pitcher needs to vary his look so that hitters are off-balance. In short, Chamberlain can still be a successful starting pitcher if he throws 94 instead of 98.
Second-guessing Chamberlain's every start, inning and, now, pitch has become tiresome. He may thrive or he may fail, but it's time to start taking a much larger view of the question, especially since we're discussing a pitcher who has been fabulously productive since first touching a big league mound.
Josh Alper is a writer living in New York City and is a contributor to FanHouse.com and ProFootballTalk.com in addition to his duties for NBCNewYork.com.
