Joba Chamberlain 2009

Wow. It didn't really hit home just how good Joba Chamberlain is until I looked at his stats while preparing to write this post. In 2008 he struck out 10.9 batters per nine innings, while walking 3.6. His groundball rate was a superb 52.0%. Even if the strikeout rate and groundball rate drop a little, he's still a terrific pitcher. Off the top of my head, I can't think of a pitcher with a similar combination of strikeout rate and groundball rate. Sabathia is close (and more than makes up for it with his control) and Webb is close (and compensates with an even higher groundball rate), but the closest equivalent is probably A.J. Burnett who just falls a little short on his strikeout rate, and who I think is VERY underrated. In fact, the more I look at the Yankees 2009 rotation, the more impressed I am.