who cares, Zach Duke looked amazing in his first year and now looks like a very average pitcher. Once he gets through the east a few more times we should see his true numbers.

yeah, you dumb fuck, because joba & zach duke have remarkably similar stuff. practically mirror images of each other. shut the fuck up moron.

It is the truth. His numbers will decline as hitters see him more. He probably won't see a Zack Dukish regression, but he will not hold his current numbers. You see, Duke was used as an EXAMPLE. Hear of those?

Joba's got exceptional stuff, but so do a lot of prospects, he's going to have to learn how to pitch. The list of pitchers with great stuff but terrible results is far too long to list. It's WAAAAAAAAAAYYYYY too early to make any sort of judgment on him other than that his stuff is nasty.

Joba and Zack Duke are nothing alike. Duke is a fringe lefty who couldn't strike people out. Joba is a power pitcher who can hold upper 90's velocity into late innings

Read a scouting report or do some research before having an opinion. You just look stupid to people who actually read about minor league prospects.

give the kid credit hes got stuff but lets see how he does b4 we start cleaning out marianos locker. besides its not like he goona be pitching in october anyway

costello and gomez have no idea what they are talking about.

What I would like to see is the alleged changeup he throws. If he has an average changeup then he would be devastating.

stop being ridiculous everyone knows that Joba's stuff is close to tops in the league already. Since he moved into the relievers role he clearly only needs 2 pitches. He has a plus curveball and a good to plus changeup. If he stays healthy the kid is going to be AWESOME and im talking way better than he is right now if you can believe that.

The wait is sadly over! Magglio Ordonez manage to foul out to 1st on the slider last night (it was a strike).

Why is it everyone is saying that he won't continue to be dominant? True I'm sure eventually he is going to give up a run or two. What happen last year when Zumaya and Rodney came up throw 100 +? Everyone was going crazy over them and I never heard anyone say it won't last.

Elson n partly right. He has very good stuff and looks to be a great pitcher for a long time but hes not going to be near this good for maybe two years. He was rushed to the majors and was called way too soon in my opinion, and he shouldn't be used in relief.

I know this is a lesser-known example, but look at John Parrish of the Orioles. He started the season by going 15 innings without giving up a run, and striking out like 25 or something. Then hitters got an idea of what he was about and stopped swinging at his slider since it was NEVER in the strike zone. His Ks went down, his BBs went up, and his ERA rose to close to 6.00. He then got placed on waivers, claimed, and traded.

Thank you Kevin for seeing my point. Zach Duke and Joba do not have the same stuff, but once you get around the league the hitters know how to hit you. Duke was purely used as an example of hitters getting smarter against good pitchers

Are you guys serious? Zach Duke? I'm not an NL guy, but I don't recall Zach Duke coming up throwing 97+ mph and blowing everyone away. Guys can't hit Joba's slider because they can't pick it up and by the time they throw a half ass wave at it the ball dives out of the zone and is unhitable.... it's not "luck" when you are striking out the best hitters in the game and making them look foolish.... he made Vladdy look like he's never held a bat before. Watch a game before you make comments like comparing Joba to Zach Duke.

I also mentioned this amazing feat on my blog, but two days earlier than here. yankeesetc.blogspot.com/2007/08/in-defense-of-joba-laws.html
to check it out.

look papelbon was brilliant last year and still is but theres always a decline when you start out so great youll always go down

look papelbon was brilliant last year and still is but theres always a decline when you start out so great youll always go down

dude who commented first you could not be a bigger moron...zach duke? duke was never as lights out as you make him seem, and i'm pretty sure that he wasnt a phenom across america like joba, i agree with some of you that we arent gonna see a 0.00 era for the rest of his career, however with his fastball, and slider, along with the curve and change which are supposed to be very good as well. there is no reason why he shouldnt be a 15-20 game winner or a lights out closer in the future.

Tom you lost allot of credibility by saying "Zach duke was never as lights out". A very ignorant comment on your part considering he was 8-2 in 14 starts with an ERA of 1.82 during his rookie season. If that is not dominate i don't know what is. Yes we all know Joba is a very good young pitcher with excellent stuff, but hitters will smarten up like they always do and begin to hit him.

so was Aaron Small Dominant? Hideki Irabu struck out I believe 10 Tigers in his mlb debut in 7 innings and only gave up a run. Is he Dominant? The word Dominant comes to mind when you hear names like Clemens, Johnson, Pedro, Guidry in 78, Guys who never gave hitters a chance when they were on. Small was 10-0 but certainly wasn't dominant. Same goes for Duke.

A Yankee? who cares.

What dumb asses are actually comparing Joba to Zach Duke? Zack Duke throws 101 MPH and has one of the best, if not the best, slider in the MLB? STFU!!!!