Sherman: EXPERTS WHO’VE SEEN HIM PEG JOBA AS A TOP STARTER (RR)

In the words of Oliver Perez-Cromwell..."You have sat too long here for any good you have been doing. Depart, I say, and let us have done with you. In the name of God, go to the starting rotation, el pronto!

A LONG-TIME SCOUT WHO SAW TWO SINGLE-A STARTS:

...I will tell you what I think on this kid. You put him in a playoff game, and when he leaves it is going to be 1-0 or 2-1. The score is going to be low for the other side. He was a dominant No. 1 guy in the minors. I left the stadium and said, “What else do you want in a starting pitcher?” I saw (Jonathan) Papelbon in the minors. I never thought Papelbon was a closer. The Red Sox did a great job. Somebody said this guy can close. I didn’t see that. Chamberlain as a starter was better than Papelbon. He had more options. He threw harder. Papelbon was 92-94 (mph) as a starter. His second pitches were all average. He would grind you out with his fastball. Chamberlain in the minors showed four potential plus-pitches. I wrote down on my notes, “For power arm guy not afraid to use whole assortment of pitches.”

I saw (Chien-Ming) Wang in the minors. He was a strike-throwing sinkerball guy. I liked Wang. I didn’t walk out of the game going “wow.” Chamberlain was a “wow” guy for me. Those guys are extremely difficult to find. Pro side, amateur side, international side. Everyone is looking for a No. 1 starter. This kid was a No. 1 starter for a first-division team.”