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Joba’s Chamberlain’s Velocity Higher in 2008 Than 2009

February 10, 2010   ·     ·   Jump to comments
Article Source: Bleacher Report - New York Yankees

The other day I went through the PitchFX data for Joba Chamberlain to see what we could find. So I compiled a list of all of his appearances in 2009 separating the data to find his velocity early in the season, later in the season, and then as a reliever.

I found that his velocity as a starter stayed consistent throughout the season at 92.47 MPH even though he struggled a lot after August started and he passed 110 innings for the first time as a major leaguer. His average velocity jumped to 95.19 MPH as a reliever, a difference of 2.72 MPH on average.

His ERA went down, but I feel it’s doubtful velocity was the contributing factor as it was consistent when he was a starter even when his numbers were. Instead it was more likely to be other factors. What those factors were are hard to say without doing a lot more research, but it is safe to say that velocity was at least not a major factor.

But I still find Joba’s velocity interesting, that happens when he can throw upwards of 100 MPH, so I decided to look back at his 2008 numbers.

So let’s take a look at where his velocity was at early in 2008 as a reliever:

 

Date-Opp.

Top Speed

Fastball Avg.

Starts season as reliever

 

 

Apr 1 – Blue Jays

96.8 MPH

94.17 MPH

Apr 3 – Blue Jays

98.3 MPH

95.44 MPH

Apr 6 – Rays

99.5 MPH

96.20 MPH

Apr 10 – Royals

99.6 MPH

97.50 MPH

Apr 19 – Orioles

98.5 MPH

97.25 MPH

Apr 20 – Orioles

97.9 MPH

96.30 MPH

Apr 22 – White Sox

99.8 MPH

97.32 MPH

Apr 24 – White Sox

97.5 MPH

96.04 MPH

Apr 27 – Indians

96.2 MPH

94.97 MPH

Apr 28 – Indians

97.0 MPH

95.13 MPH

May 2 – Mariners

97.1 MPH

94.73 MPH

May 6 – Indians

97.0 MPH

94.90 MPH

May 8 – Indians

97.8 MPH

96.11 MPH

May 10 – Tigers

96.7 MPH

94.86 MPH

May 13 – Rays

98.6 MPH

95.86 MPH

May 14 – Rays

99 MPH

97.07 MPH

May 17 – Mets

97.3 MPH

95.58 MPH

May 21 – Orioles

99.6 MPH

96.36 MPH

May 24 – Seattle

97.7 MPH

95.28 MPH

May 28 – Orioles

99.5 MPH

96.07 MPH

Average

98.07

95.86

His average velocity of 95.86 MPH in the beginning of 2008 was less than one-MPH faster than his average velocity out of the bullpen at the end of 2009,  95.19 MPH—a 0.67 MPH difference. That is comforting because of an injury I’ll talk about in a minute.

First let’s take a look at his velocity in 2008 as a starter:

 

Becomes a starter

June 3 – Blue Jays

99.1 MPH

95.24 MPH

June 8 – Royals

100.2 MPH

96.22 MPH

June 13 – Astros

98.4 MPH

94.57 MPH

June 19 – Padres

98.8 MPH

95.12 MPH

June 25 – Pirates

99 MPH

95.34 MPH

July 1 – Rangers

97.8 MPH

94.81 MPH

July 6 – Red Sox

99.4 MPH

94.94 MPH

July 11 – Blue Jays

98.4 MPH

94.79 MPH

July 19 – A’s

99.6 MPH

95.22 MPH

July 25 – Red Sox

99.6 MPH

95.51 MPH

July 30 – Orioles

99.4 MPH

94.86 MPH

Aug 4 – Rangers

98.2 MPH

94.80 MPH

Average

98.99

95.12

Interesting, in 2008 his average as a reliever, 95.86 MPH, was barely higher than as a starter, 95.12 MPH, just 0.74 MPH different. That’s a lot different than 2009 when there was a 2.72 MPH difference between his velocity starting vs. relieving.

Then there was the rotator cuff tendonitis:

 

Put on DL w/Shoulder Tendonitis

Comes back as a reliever

 

Sept 2 – Rays

95.8 MPH

93.25 MPH

Sept 6 – Mariners

97.1 MPH

93.83 MPH

Sept 10 – Angels

95.3 MPH

93.82 MPH

Sept 13 – Rays

96.2 MPH

94.20 MPH

Sept 15 – White Sox

97.2 MPH

95.41 MPH

Sept 17 – White Sox

95.8 MPH

94.63 MPH

Sept 19 – Orioles

95.9 MPH

93.52 MPH

Sept 21 – Orioles

96 MPH

94.07 MPH

Sept 23 – Blue Jays

95.8 MPH

94.04 MPH

Sept 28 – Red Sox

93.7 MPH

92.36 MPH

Average

95.88

93.91

Joba spent almost a month on the DL with tendonitis in his shoulder that many beat writers thought might have been more severe, but the Yankees were trying to make the playoffs and wanted him back on the mound. But his average velocity out of the pen in September of 2008 was 1.95 MPH slower than his previous average out of the pen.

It’s very possible that Joba came back and was not quite at 100 percent. Did that carry over to 2009? Let’s take a look:

 

2008 Total Avg.

Top Speed

Fastball Avg.

ERA

Relief

98.07

95.86

2.28

Starter

98.99

95.12

2.76

Post-Injury as reliever

95.88

93.91

2.38

 

2009 Total Avg.

Top Speed

Fastball Avg.

ERA

Pre-Aug (before 110 innings)

95.77

92.43

3.58

Post-Aug

95.55

92.53

7.69

As reliever

96.46

95.19

2.46

Only Joba knows if he was 100 percent in 2009, but his velocity was down as a starter compared to 2008. Making it harder to know if there was a lingering injury is his velocity as a reliever in 2008 compared to 2009. In 2008 his average was 95.86 MPH and then it dropped post-injury. But then in 2009 his average out of the pen was very close to his pre-injury number out of the pen in 2008.

It’s possible that he didn’t feel 100 percent at the start of 2009 and never really trusted himself to let loose all the way until he went in the bullpen at the end of the season. Because of this, it will be interesting to see if his velocity comes back as a starter in 2010.

Again though, we get a similar conclusion as we got the other day. Joba’s numbers don’t seem to change when his velocity changes. So as interesting as this is, it’s not the reason for his struggles at the end of 2009, or at least this is too small a sample size to tell.

Something was going on from August until the end of September last season and it probably didn’t have much to do with his velocity. Any ideas?

Date-Opp.

Top Speed

Fastball Avg.

Starts season as reliever

 

 

Apr 1 – Blue Jays

96.8 MPH

94.17 MPH

Apr 3 – Blue Jays

98.3 MPH

95.44 MPH

Apr 6 – Rays

99.5 MPH

96.20 MPH

Apr 10 – Royals

99.6 MPH

97.50 MPH

Apr 19 – Orioles

98.5 MPH

97.25 MPH

Apr 20 – Orioles

97.9 MPH

96.30 MPH

Apr 22 – White Sox

99.8 MPH

97.32 MPH

Apr 24 – White Sox

97.5 MPH

96.04 MPH

Apr 27 – Indians

96.2 MPH

94.97 MPH

Apr 28 – Indians

97.0 MPH

95.13 MPH

May 2 – Mariners

97.1 MPH

94.73 MPH

May 6 – Indians

97.0 MPH

94.90 MPH

May 8 – Indians

97.8 MPH

96.11 MPH

May 10 – Tigers

96.7 MPH

94.86 MPH

May 13 – Rays

98.6 MPH

95.86 MPH

May 14 – Rays

99 MPH

97.07 MPH

May 17 – Mets

97.3 MPH

95.58 MPH

May 21 – Orioles

99.6 MPH

96.36 MPH

May 24 – Seattle

97.7 MPH

95.28 MPH

May 28 – Orioles

99.5 MPH

96.07 MPH

Average

98.07

95.86

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