Everything's good on the Joba Chamberlain front. He threw a 35-pitch bullpen at Yankee Stadium today. He used all his pitches, and had no physical setbacks or limitations. Chamberlain will next throw a bullpen Thursday at Yankee Stadium, which I expect will include more pitches.
No word as to when he is expected to see game action, either at the major or minor league level.
In other news, the Yankees have agreed to extend their player development contract with the Class A Charleston RiverDogs for four more years.
This is from my story for tomorrow on the Yankees-Red Sox series. The Yankees are lucking out w/the pitching matchups.
As the Yankees try to make up ground against the Red Sox, they will get a couple lucky breaks. The presumptive Red Sox ace Josh Beckett has been pushed back again due to continued numbness in his right arm. And the pitcher who has performed like their ace, Daisuke Matsuzaka (15-2, 2.98 ERA), pitched Sunday and will not face the Yankees.
That leaves much more manageable pitching opponents for the Yankees, who start their three best pitchers. They will face Tim Wakefield tonight (7-8, 3.67), who has been on the disabled list with right shoulder tightness on Aug. 7. Wakefield will start opposite Pettitte, who has made three consecutive quality starts. Wednesday it will be Boston’s Paul Byrd (8-11, 4.61) against the Yankees’ Sidney Ponson (7-4, 4.67).
And Thursday, the Yankees will start their best pitcher, Mike Mussina (16-7, 3.45). Boston’s starter that day, lefty Jon Lester, has been solid overall (12-5, 3.49), but got shelled in his last game, giving up seven earned runs in 2 1/3 innings.
Comments (2)
As Chip S. has pointed out several times on the blog, the Sox are also without JD Drew and Mike Lowell. You never want to win because of injuries, but this is certainly fortuitous for the Yanks. Now they need to jump on the opportunity to get back in the race. If they do, they'll have a chance at seeing how they match up when both teams are at full strength. That's my hope: more classic fall baseball.
Three best pitchers and we include Ponson...sad.