Joba has torn ligament; may need Tommy John surgery

13 Responses to Joba has torn ligament; may need Tommy John surgery

1. Mike Jaggers-Radolf says:

   June 9, 2011 at 5:05 pm

   I just want to emphasize how ridiculous all the talk of the strong Yankee bullpen was from the season’s beginning. It was strong, on paper, and has performed well, but the injuries to Soriano and now Joba demonstrate all the ups and downs of a 162 game season.

   This is a bummer for Joba, who has had one set back after another throughout his development. Now he’s on the shelf for 365+ days.

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2. Reggie C. says:

   June 9, 2011 at 5:21 pm

   Very unfortunate news. Time to move Nova to the pen and bump up Silva. Sink or swim we gotta find out what Silva can bring.

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   • T.O. Chris says:

     June 9, 2011 at 5:25 pm

     Even in the pen Nova doesn’t have the kind of stuff to be a legit setup man, at best he’s a long man/swing man and we still need an 8th inning pitcher. Moving Nova to the pen won’t fix this one, we probably have to go outside the organization on this one.

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     • YankeesJunkie says:

       June 9, 2011 at 5:33 pm

       I disagree to a certain extent. While I don’t think Nova could be a very good set up man he could pitch fairly well in the sixth or seventh inning. You have to think that he could run it up 95-97 with the FB and have more bite on the curve he goes out 100% each pitch. Obviously he is not working out as a starter with his stuff as is so there is no harm trying him out in the pen considering the likes of Logan, Pendelton, Marquez, and Ayala who’s stuff are much less than Nova’s.

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       • T.O. Chris says:

         June 9, 2011 at 5:53 pm

         Logan doesn’t have stuff that is “much less” than Nova. Nova averages 91.9 MPH in the rotation, last season Logan averaged 93.2 MPH in the pen. I don’t see Nova averaging more than that even with a move to the pen, since Hughes averaged 93.6 MPH while he was in the pen.

         I also don’t agree that he “isn’t working out”, he has had some bad games for sure but a 4.50 ERA, and a 4.29 FIP is about as good as it gets for a 5th starter anywhere. I really doubt Carlos Silva is going to come in and be any better, and if you move Nova to the pen, and you still need to go get a bullpen arm what have you done really? I guess you could move Nova to the pen if you want to give Noesi a shot in the rotation, but at this point I don’t see that as a real upgrade either.

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         • Justice Beaver says:

           June 9, 2011 at 6:53 pm

           Silva should be the long man in the pen, nice and simple. I am a big believer that Noesi should get a chance to start though.

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3. T.O. Chris says:

   June 9, 2011 at 5:23 pm

   I would like to see the Yankees call the Cubs about Kerry Wood, I’ve heard they are willing to shop him, and I imagine he would waive his no trade for us. There is always a chance that the Yankees put Hughes in the pen if/when he comes back.

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4. Justice Beaver says:

   June 9, 2011 at 6:52 pm

   As long as they don’t put Phil Hughes or any other big name starting prospects in the pen, I am fine… all other options are OK.

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   • T.O. Chris says:

     June 9, 2011 at 7:37 pm

     At this point putting Hughes in the pen wouldn’t be a bad thing at all. His velocity would play up in short stents and his lack of control, and a secondary pitch wouldn’t show up as badly. He wouldn’t be staying there longterm, but for the rest of the year there is really no down side. He doesn’t have to build up innings, and he likely has a much better chance of coming back this season and being effective in an 8th inning role than he does starting.

     Hilarious name btw.

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     • Justice Beaver says:

       June 9, 2011 at 8:26 pm

       Thank you… However, I have to disagree. While there are definite benefits of putting Hughes in the pen, there is a HUGE drawback. He needs innings, the huge jump last year had obvious implications to his current problem (dead arm). Putting him back in the pen for the rest of the season, would impact next year as well. Since he would most likely encounter the same issues that he did down the stretch last year.

       The Yankees must build this kid up to 200 IP, if he ever is going to have a shot at being a solid starter. He must continue to use this season to pitch and pitch… and pitch, as much as he can from this point on. If he could at least get to 130/150 IP between now and a hopeful playoffs run that would be great.

       The Yankees will be in a similar position next year with starters and if Hughes isn’t even a bonafide option, it has large team wide implications.

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       • T.O. Chris says:

         June 9, 2011 at 8:34 pm

         The thing is teams don’t go off of the inning total from last season, they tend to go off of the highest innings limit you have pitched in the past few years. Because of this Hughes will be looked at as someone who pitched 170 innings. The only incentive to keep him in the rotation for innings is if he could go over 170, and at this point he can’t do that.

         Hughes will be a starter going into next season no matter what, and whether he throws 70 or 110 innings this season doesn’t really have a bearing on that.

         Besides even Tom Verducci admits that at age 25-26 the innings jump stops being a real concern. Hughes will be 26 next season, and since he already had that jump it shouldn’t be a problem going forward. Just look at CJ Wilson, he jumped from 70 to 200 innings, and he’s improved in most categories this season.

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5. Steve S. says:

   June 9, 2011 at 8:18 pm

   This doesn’t surprise me all that much, and that take has nothing to do with how the Yanks handled him in 2009. The day they drafted him, there were doubts about his ability to maintain his stuff and/or stay healthy due to a variety of factors.

   The only thing that surprised me was how asymptomatic he was. He had none of the tell tale signs of someone who needs TJ. He was downplaying the injury when it occurred, and was even playing long toss the day the news came down. He says he feels fine, except for a slight forearm strain. Very weird.

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   • Tom Swift says:

     June 10, 2011 at 9:53 am

     If Joba goes under the knife, who knows, he may come back stronger and able to handle starting. With the high recovery rates for TJS these days, there’s room to be optimistic about the long term. I hope Joba will be committed to doing the work to make a comeback and that he keeps the weight off during the recovery period.

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