It has been a while since Joba Chamberlain was the talk of town, almost as long since he felt welcome in this town.
After seven seasons with the Yankees, the former flamethrower is sporting a new beard, new glasses and 15-to-20 pounds less weight after signing a one-year, $2.5 million deal with the Tigers last month. The 28-year-old seems as if he couldn’t be happier to be out of The Bronx, now with a fresh start on a contending team, having acknowledged New York was probably never the right place for the Nebraska native.
“I can have a beard now,” Chamberlain said with a smile to the Detroit media at Comerica Park, finally free of the Yankees’ restrictive facial hair rules. “I could have had a moustache. But I’m not Tom Selleck.
“It was the first place I wanted to play,” Chamberlain said of Detroit. “From afar, I could see the ballclub and the fun they have. … Playing baseball should not be pressure. It’s a game. I chose to join a great team, and a great organization, in a great sports town.”
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The Tigers seem just as excited to have the low-risk, potentially high-reward option in their bullpen. Chamberlain, who suffered several injuries during his tenure in New York, struggled with a career-worst 4.93 ERA and 1.73 WHIP in his final season with the Yankees. Tigers general manager Dave Dombrowski thinks a new city and a new ballpark may be all Chamberlain needs to become a high-end reliever again.
“We like him, we’ve liked him in the past,” Dombrowski said. “He’s in great shape. Sometimes, you need a change in scenery. We think he’s going to be a very important part of our bullpen.”
Coming off of 2012’s Tommy John surgery, the former first-round pick said he wasn’t trusting his fastball or his once-devastating slider last season. Now, two seasons removed from the procedure, he believes he can cut down on his walks.
“It’s tough coming off it,” Chamberlain said. “But this whole offseason has been unbelievable. Just playing catch now feels totally different.”
Chamberlain looks totally different, too. Down from a weight he described as “north of 250 [pounds],” Chamberlain has been placed on a conditioning and nutrition program by the Tigers, and the pitcher also has hired a personal chef. Now, he hopes to look different on the mound than he has the past few seasons.
“This is a team where they’re not happy just getting to the World Series,” Chamberlain said. “Mr. Dombrowski, Mr. Westhoff (John, Tigers legal counsel and contract negotiator), they’re here to win. Now you know why people want to play here.”