Yankees Ownership - As Dumb as it Gets

Last night marked phase 2 of the Joba Chamberlain debate. Joba made his first start and only managed 2.1 innings on 62 pitches (65 pitch limit). While he was not sharp with his pitches (30 balls) I believe he has the makeup to be a great pitcher either in the pen or as a starter.

Here is the issue. IF Joba is a true ace - meaning he can go out once every 5 days, give 7 strong innings, win 20+ games, and start MORE than 1 game in the playoffs - I would definitely agree that he should start. The one catch to that is the Yankees front office MUST do their part to find a real setup guy who could potentially fill the closer role in 3 years.

On the other hand, if Joba is not capable of being a "true ace," he should remain in the pen and be groomed like Rivera was in 1996. He should be a 7th and 8th inning pitcher to maximize his use and all of the sudden, Yankee fans would not have to watch Farnsworth, Ramirez, Hawkins, Veras, Ohlendorf, or any other garbage the Yankees throw out there in big spots.

Of course things can change but at this point we know several things about Joba for sure. Obviously he has amazing stuff. More importantly for a NY pitcher, he has the makeup to succeed in the Big Apple. He shows toughness and tremendous emotion on the mound. Lastly, the fans absolutely love him. Unless he completely blows up over the next year or so, the fans are not going to boo him like we do for Farnsworth. The fans are behind him and he feeds off the energy.

The other certainty is that Joba is a strikeout pitcher who will throw a lot of pitches. I think he threw a lot of balls last night out of the strike zone because his adrenaline was running on overdrive. Because he throws so hard, batters foul off a lot of his pitches. Last year a large portion of batters faced struck out on check swings on his slider. This year, hitters learned to take that pitch which more often than not will drop out of the strike zone. This will lead to higher pitch counts. With the way the Yankees baby these young pitchers (and he will be considered a young pitcher for the next 4 -5 years) he will not have many games where he throws more than 95-100 pitches. That translates into 6+ innings. What happens to the 7th and 8th now? The Yankees need to go out and fill those shoes.

Last year Joba was transitioned to the bullpen because they Yankees could not rely on Farnsworth. All of the sudden as they move Joba back into the rotation they do trust Farnsworth? Do they trust anyone else besides Mo? Do they have a clue what is going on this season? They are 2 games under .500 and because the Indians and Tigers have faltered, they do have a shot at the Wild Card (I do think the Rays will be good but the Yankees could catch them). At this point the Yankees have Joba, Hughes, Mussina, Kennedy set up to be in the rotation (assuming healthy) for the 2nd half of the season. Not one of these guys (whether on pitch count or capability) will give the Yankees length. The bullpen is extremely important this year and the Yankees have only 1 pitcher that can pitch in big games. This is a major problem.

The other problem is if they do make the playoffs.....let's give game 3 to Joba. In that case he gets to pitch in potentially 1 of the 5 games. For the MORONS who say "would you rather have Joba pitch 200 innings or 75 innings...." let me ask you this. Would you rather have Joba have an effect on 60 games or 30 games? And in the postseason, Joba could potentially pitch in ALL 5 games.

If I were the Yankees, I would have Joba do exactly what Rivera did in 1996. Have him pitch the 7th and 8th innings this year, stretch out his innings limit and if you need a starter next year, he could fill that role (just to test him out). Over the off season the Yankees would have to find relief and a true setup man. Try him out as a starter over the course of an entire season. Have a plan and stick with it. Stop making rash decisions that screw up the season. The current Yankees roster has no relief pitching and starting pitching that averages the fewest pitches/innings per game in the entire MLB (fact - around 86 pitches per start). This will prove to be their downfall this season. What happens in the future remains to be seen.