yankees

Joba Chamberlain’s Weight Gain: The First Mini-Controversy of the 2011 Season!

Stories about how Joba Chamberlain appears heavier this year have been around for a week now — as have the jokes about how he seems to have found the weight that CC Sabathia lost. Brian Cashman, though, is not laughing. “He’s heavier, we’ll just leave it at that,” said the GM, who then repeated a couple variations of that statement and, according to Ben Shpigel, “left no doubt what he thinks about” the situation. If this is going to become the season’s first mini-controversy, you might as well know all the specifics: Chad Jennings says he’s most noticeably bigger in the chest and shoulders (though “not necessarily softer or rounder“), and Brian Costello of the Post wrote last week that he “looks to have gained 10-15 pounds.” Chamberlain, for his part, says he feels great, that he’s “stronger physically,” and that he won’t be discussing his weight again. Not that that’ll stop everyone else from discussing it, at least for a couple of days, until the next bit of Yankee news comes along. [Bats/NYT]

Joba Chamberlain’s Weight Gain: The First Mini-Controversy of the 2011 Season!