Don't be so cowardly on Joba Chamberlain
I've been known to not let things go . . .
OK, Jim, there are two main arguments for why to not move Joba into the rotation now:
1) Who's going to pitch the eighth?
2) Joba can't exceed his innings limit because he's 22 and has never pitched 100 innings in a season.
Taken in reverse order. No. 2 first.
David Cone said something interesting on the Yankees broadcast last night. He said he started in middle relief in the bigs and then earned a spot in the rotation. Here are two things I don't remember anyone saying back then: 1) How are we going to stretch Cone out and 2) What about his innings limit?
In 1987, Cone pitched 99.1 innings. In 1988, Cone pitched 231.1 innings.
Quite a jump, no? And Cone isn't a big, strapping kid like Joba. Did the jump ruin his arm? Well, in 1998 -- 10 years later -- he pitched 207.2 innings. Had a pretty good career.
How about John Smoltz, who went from starter to closer to starter? In 2004, Smoltz threw 81.2 innings as a reliever. In 2005, he threw 229.2 innings as a starter. He's thrown 200-plus innings every season since.
As for stretching Joba out, the way the Yankees rotation is (only Wang and Pettitte go deep into games) there's no reason they can't pitch him on a middle relief schedule. two innings, then three, then four. It can be done. Used to be done all the time.
And who is going to pitch the eighth?
Well, no one knows. But who is going to pitch the eighth if Joba is a starter in June? July? Next season? 2010? 2015? There's never a good time to take a dominant eighth-inning guy and make him a starter.
Here are other guys who would have been dominant eighth-inning guys:
Pedro Martinez
Roger Clemens
Josh Beckett
Bob Lemon
Cy Young
Babe Ruth
But you know what? They were all more valuable as starters. Except for the Babe, who was more valuable as a skirt-chasing, hot-dog eating icon.
The Yankees wouldn't be facing this issue today if they had made Joba a starter in spring training. Six-man rotation, Mussina in the pen, Kennedy at Triple-A. One of those options would have worked.
Make Joba a starter. Now.
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Comments (1)
I don't think moving Joba now proves an advantage. Rather, it's a tradeoff, and we'd have to see whether he's as effective the second and third time around the order. The Yankees simply don't have the stable middle relief necessary to make this work. I'd guess this is the #1 priority for Cashman.
Maybe trade Giambi for a middle reliever. He's hot now ... never will have more trade value. :)
I'd still play with Hughes and Mussina. It may indeed be time to send Kennedy down to regain his confidence. Just don't pitch Mussina against Boston. :) We can bring Igawa up or start looking for a #5 starter. Longer term, it may be an interesting conversation about Mussina gong to the bullpen, but not right now.