Joba Chamberlain got the biggest applause when he came onto the field today. He threw live batting practice to Hideki Matsui, Jason Lane, Jose Molina and Eric Duncan. He's trying to make all four of his pitches (fastball, changeup, curveball, slider) ones he's comfortable with using, whether as a starter or in relief, because as he said with a nod toward teammate Mariano Rivera's locker: "We can't all be gifted to throw a great cutter every time."
George Steinbrenner was in Max's Cafe at Legends Field, along with son Hank. I was in the clubhouse at that point, but colleague Ken Davidoff was there, and said Andy Pettitte popped in to say hello. George Steinbrenner told him he had done well (dealing with the HGH aftermath). Hank Steinbrenner, when asked which of them makes decisions for the club, said they usually agree.
Comments (10)
joba is great he should stay in the pen be the set up man for a few years and learn from the best (42) and then become the closer
we have huges wang and kennedy who are young guys that will lead this team and get the ball to joba and Rivera.
Yuck. Joba should be a starter. The front office seems to feel the same way.
There's a reason guys like Beckett, Verlander, and King Felix are in the starting rotation.
Joba is far too talented to be a setup man.
Waste of a guy with four good pitches to shunt him off to the pen. If either of the other hot youngsters fails to develop enough reliably strong pitches to make it through a long season as a starter after the league gets a sustained look, they can go to the pen.
Not like we don't have options. It's just that he's the one we saw functioning out of the pen last season.
I have to agree w/ my friends above. Joba should be a starter in my opinion, but I understand the impact he has on the bullpen.
Diane
He's the one we saw functioning SUCCESSFULLY. There in lies the huge difference. I think he could do either, but without that lights out setup guy, we are in trouble!!! See Farnsworthless for definition of trouble.
That was me at 19:15.
They don't need a "light's out" 8th inning guy.
They need 2-3 arms that are capable of getting hitters out. The lights out setup man can't pitch everyday anyways.
Think of it this way...
There are three locks for the bullpen coming out of Spring Training (Mo, Farnsworth, and Hawkins) - well, four locks since Joba is going to start the season in the pen for a couple of months.
The Yanks are going to have at least a dozen guys or more competing for the final 2-3 slots in that pen throughout the season.
Here's a quick list:
Bruney, Britton, Ramirez, Albadejo, Veras, Steven Jackson, Horne, Melancon, Sanchez, Marquez, McCutchen, Ohlendorf, Karstens, Rasner, etc.
These are the guys just off the top of my head and there's probably more I'm forgetting. I have to believe the Yanks will be able to find a couple of arms out of this bunch to secure the final couple of slots.
A few appearances by Farnsworth and Hawkins will get Viper saying "Hmmm... maybe Joba should stay in the pen."
I will NEVER understand why being in the bullpen is a waste of talent
Won't happen, Sully.
I'm fully aware what they have (or don't have) in Farnsworth and Hawkins.
Sully,
Newsday's own Ken Davidoff explains exactly why I'm so vehemently opposed to having Joba in the pen for the long haul:
"As the Yankees have shown each of the last four Octobers, starting pitchers carry far greater value than relievers. Joba can be the Yankees' ace, their Josh Beckett, their C.C. Sabathia, which they have lacked."
Whether Joba does indeed turn out to be their Beckett, Sabathia, or Verlander remains to be seen. However, the Yanks front office believes he will be if given the chance.
The sole reason he got the opportunity to pitch for the Yankees last season was as sheer dominance as a starter. They only put him in the pen because they were desperate and needed to keep in innings in check.
I would find it a travesty to derail those plans by putting him in the pen over the long haul.