Musings From the Bleachers 06.05.08: Pitching Transitions

Posted by Frank Fedele on 06.05.2008

The big news this week came from the pitching mound in two baseball cities. In New York city a young pitcher attempted to make the move from the 8th inning to starter. News also came from Atlanta as an old pro had to have season ending surgery. In this edition of Musings, we look at the old pro that smoothly made the transition from the bullpen to starter and the youngster in New York that begins that journey.

Pitching Transitions

This is a tale of two pitchers at different ends of their careers. One is a top prospect who helped solidify the New York Yankees bullpen last year as a bridge to ace closer Mariano Rivera and the other a future Hall of Famer (at least from this seat in the bleachers) that has decided to have shoulder surgery that at least ends his year and may end his career. This week we look at Joba Chamberlain and John Smoltz.

John Smoltz



John Smoltz's career began as a Michigan high school prospect drafted by his home town team, the Tigers in 1985. The Tigers in late 1987 was making a push toward an eventual World Series championship and needed an arm down the stretch to solidify its rotation. The Tigers looked to Atlanta and veteran Doyle Alexander to provide that push. The cost was young righty John Smoltz.

Smoltz began in the starting rotation for the Braves in 1988 and eventually reached the form as a starter to win the Cy Young in 1996. Smoltz also helped form a stellar rotation of Maddux, Glavine, Smoltz and Avery. This group helped the Braves to a World Series win in 1995 and two other visits.



In 2001, Smoltz volunteered to help the team patch its bullpen issues and moved to the pen with great results, with a high of 55 saves. The Braves, however needed Smoltz back in the rotation in 2005 and he moved again, still dominating.

Smoltz was able to make that move and make it successfully. A youngster in New York is attempting that now, hoping to have the same success. Joba Chamberlain welcome to the Yankees rotation, no pressure.

Joba Chamberlain


When asked whether Joba Chamberlain should be moved to the starting rotation. The increasingly more vocal Hank Steinbrenner said that Joba could be his teams Josh Beckett. Glad to see he doesn't want to put any pressure on the young man.

The Yankees started the season with two youngsters in the rotation, Phil Hughes and Ian Chamberlain. Both struggled and are presently on the disabled list with a 0-7 record. Joba Chamberlain was thought to have the best arm of the three, but he was busy helping bridge the 8th inning to Mariano Rivera out of the Yankee bullpen. The Yankees, however, feel that Joba can help the team best out of the rotation. In his place, the Yankees called on Kyle Farnsworth. Umm, yeah, we won't go into that.

Chamberlain started Tuesday night and scuffled, only pitching 2 1/3 innings before his pitch limit was reached. The Yankee bullpen without Joba helped make a 3-2 deficit into a 9-3 loss. Needless to say, this is a work in progress.

Joba has three great pitches, with high 90's heat leading the way. He should be a great starter for the team, the big question is how long this will take and can the team stay in the race until he is ready

Others

Last week we talked of stud minor leaguers to watch. One reader, Derek, mentioned Chris Perez of the Cardinals as one to watch for the Cardinals bullpen. The Cardinals presently are using Ryan Franklin, with Jason Isringhausen looking more and more unreliable. Expect to see Mr. Perez in the Cards bullpen sooner rather than later



One to watch further down the line is Matt Wieters with the Orioles who is presently tearing up the Carolina league. Seeing him in person, he is the real deal both behind the plate and at the plate. The only issue could be his size, as he may out grow the position. Expect to see him in Baltimore in 2009 or 2010.

Until next week, that is my thoughts from my bleacher seat.