June 04, 2008
Pitcher Comparison
The Tao of Stieb notices the difference between the Jays' youthful pitcher and the Yankees':
Fat ugly toad Joba Chamberlain lasted just over two innings. There's your god damned saviour, Yankee fans. And while we're at it, Joba (born 9/23/85) has done pretty much (expletive deleted) all as a major league starter aside from having some overhyped "rules" named after him, while Jesse Litsch (born 3/9/85) is 7-1 this year with a 3.18 ERA (and 14-10 with a 3.58 over his first two years.) Not that we think it is an injustice necessarily, or that things won't play out differently in the end...but it does make us want to smack Michael Kay in the face with a Rideau Crusher every time we hear about how great Joe-Bah is.
More reactions from around the blogosphere and news media at Big League Stew.
Posted by David Pinto at
11:40 AM
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I guess I'd be testy too if nobody cared about what my pitchers were doing either.
Didn't think Joba had start stuff either. Especially against those Jays pitchers...those Toronto starters seem to have something going this year
Normally the Tao is pretty level headed but they're trying to keep up with these guys.
People are noticing the Jays rotation... pretty much every broadcast of other teams I watch mention the Jays pitching staff. The only pitcher on the Jays staff with an ERA over 4 is AJ Burnett. All their leftie relievers have ERA+ over 200.
Being 12th in offense SLG is offensive. It's also why the Jays aren't in 1st. (for now)
More Home Runs please! *makes child grabby motion*
The Jays do have a good rotation, and Jesse Litsch is really good.
But are all Blue Jays' fans this stupid? "Fat, ugly toad"? Right, Chamberlain hasn't done anything as a MLB starter. No kidding. That's what all the attention was *about*.
Oh, and go ahead and smack Michael Kay, for all I care.
"Fat ugly toad" Right off the bat with an ad hominem attack? I have to dismiss these guys immediately. Not to mention the fact that Joba was on a 65-70 pitch count (which everyone who's head wasn't in their rectal cavity knew going in) and the Blue Jay hitters exploited that. i wonder just how well many other pitchers did in their first ML start at age 22.
Safe to assume there isn't much of value at Tao of Stieb.
Here's Shaun Marcum's first ML start in 2006. 76 pitches, 1 hitter for 5 innings. Oh, and after he started 2007 in the bullpen, this was his first start. 6 no hit innings on 78 pitches. He went 4 more no hit innings in his next start so he actually started with 10 no hit innings.
He's not a power pitcher though... ooooooh shiny fastball.
Not going to get into the ad hominem on Joba, which I agree is silly. But Toronto's offense isn't really that terrible. True, they're fourth in the division in runs scored, but they're not far behind the Yanks and Jays. Only the Red Sox beat them big in runs scored.
With their +34 run diff, the Jays "should" essentially be tied for the division lead. Only that bad 9-12 luck in one-run games has hurt them. They're not far from the lead as is, only four back. Watch this team carefully. With just a smidgen of offense, the pitchers could take the Jays to the postseason.
Really, that post reads a lot angrier than we had intended. We were trying to be funny, but must have failed.
And yes, we're primarily dropping expletives in our blog lately as a manner of keeping up with our pals at the Drunk Jays Fans, because no one cares what we write when it is a clearly articulated and reasoned argument.
Also, the "fat toad" comment was a reference to another overhyped Yankees starter of yore, which we thought some people (especially Yankees fans) might enjoy.
Tao, I think it's unfair to link any pitcher with Irabu -- well maybe Carl Pavano. Even Kei Igawa at least tries even if he clearly doesn't have the stuff. After looking over your site I can see it intends to be humorous, but a single post fro a site I know nothing about doesn't necessarily convey that. Especially when "reputable" news reports like the AP seem to be uninformed about the limits on Joba.
If the Yankees are going to be working on making big league pitchers out of Joba, IPK and Hughes it's going to be a rebuilding year in the Bronx. I can live with that. For a year.
Oh, *that* fat toad.
Okay, then. It probably was funny in context, or for your regular readers, or whatever.
And I do appreciate that a lot of the time what sounds to Yankee fans like hatin' on the pinstripes is actually anger at (or exasperation with) the national media.
For what it's worth, calling Joba Chamberlain a "fat, ugly toad" is NOT an ad hominem. It's just an insult, and doesn't make Tao's argument any less valid.
rbj: If you're interested in comparing first major league starts, might it be fair to mention Litsh's debut (in addition to Andrew mentioning Marcum's)? 8.2 innings. 1 ER. 4 hits. True, he wasn't on a pitch count like Joba (or Marcum!), but you catch my drift . . . You can understand why people get tired of the Joba hype.
Joba totally looks like the Babe. And has serious, big league stuff. It's kind of amusing watching the Yankees try to massage and manipulate their guys into something that resembles a big league staff.
Jays' pitching is sick, whether ESPN notices or not.
What the hell do you have against fat toads?
Jerk.
It's always fun when the Yankees struggle. Since that hasn't really happened in well over a decade, please excuse us while we revel in it.
Predictably, Tao of Stieb's boyfriend is ineffective tonight and his career ERA is now 2 runs higher than Chamberlain's. And another American team won the Stanley Cup.
What is all the excitement, I thought everyone thought he was a fat ugly toad. It is only an insult if it is not true!
Ah, Phil, how many Americans on Detroit's roster?
Darren, more importantly can Phil locate Piisburgh on a map?
Considering there was no Canadian team remaining in the playoffs for the last two rounds, the American team salvo does seem a little late. Kinda like Canadians claiming basketball superiority if the Raptors managed to win it all. (As unlikely as that is.)
But hey, if we want to compare hockey prowess, we'll see you in Vancouver 2010.
Hockey? Who cares about hockey? It's June already!
And yes, we probably cursed our pink round and efficient hero in last night's game. We probably should be careful not to overhype the Jays' fifth starter.