WHY GETTING BACK TO BASICS WILL FIX JOBA

"I feel great, I’m stronger physically, I’m better in my bullpens."
--Joba Chamberlain

Lisa Swan at Subway Squawkers is one of the best writers out there and asks this question:
So What To Do About Joba Chamberlain? (Read her piece by the way, it's great)

It got me thinking. Great question. We've all been talking and blabbing and screaming about Joba and his weight gain and if he can perform anymore, but no one really knows Joba like Joba knows Joba. Right? He said he feels good. He said he feels comfortable. He said he doesn't want to talk about his weight. OK Joba. So, we should respect him. Hell, He's even said that he and Rothschild have looked over his delivery and they found something interesting in his mechanics:

“ Just my hands traveling away from the center of my body, and that’s when your hand doesn’t catch up. And that’s where they were when I first got called up. I thought I’d go back and try that to get away from my hands being back up here because I bounce a lot and don’t get over the rubber.” (That is brought to you by Chad Jennings, the Journal News)

That nugget is important, because that nugget is more significant than being fat on a mound. Other pitchers have been chunky and pitched by the way... David Wells, CC Sabathia, Carlos Zambrano. You see where I'm going with this? If mechanics are off, a pitcher fails. If they fix it, he could be successful.

We're all panicking, but it is possible that Joba Chamberlain is going to be fine, maybe even great in 2011. Right away he's noticed and and fixing a mechanical flaw with Larry Rothschild and he addressed the "chub-gate" controversy and moved on from that. So now, if Joba says he feels good, if he says the gym he built in his home is working for him, terrific. (Let's just hope his gym doesn't have a full kitchen and stocked fridge in it. Sorry)

My point is, we need to work with this guy, he's 25, not 45 and the is no reason why he can't pitch himself out of this lull and into the best year of his career. I say, let's get behind Joba. He can be truly effective in the bullpen for us if he just trusts his stuff and just chucks it. Do you agree? Disagree? Tell me.

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