Inserting Joba Chamberlain into the rotation smacks of desperation at a time when the Yankees season hangs in the balance. Luckily, we'll all be there to witness it.
For the first time in recent memory, the New York Yankees are envious of the Toronto Blue Jays (Well, at least their pitching staff).
The opener against the Jays on Tuesday night will be a circus. Joba Chamberlain, the best homegrown arm to come out of the farm system since Mariano Rivera, steps out of his set-up role and into the starting rotation. Chamberlain's opposition on Tuesday night will be Jays' ace Roy Halladay.
Whether this is a step up or a setback for the Yankees' pitching staff remains to be seen. Before this season, two other young arms - Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy - were expected to make major contributions and fill in the bottom two spots in the rotation. Both failed miserably, going a combined 0-7 with a 7.99 ERA in 14 starts, and are currently on the disabled list. The failures of these two pitchers are the main reason that the Yankees sit a game below .500 and in unfamiliar territory in fourth place in the A.L. East.
So into the void steps young Chamberlain, the strapping fireballer from Nebraska who has served as the bridge in the bullpen to get the ball to Rivera, still one of the game's best shutdown men (15-for-15 in save opportunities this season) in his 14th season as the Yankees' closer. But in a perfect example of "robbing Peter to pay Paul" the elevation of Joba to the rotation makes the bullpen suspect and leaves a massive void in the eighth inning, set-up role. A quick look at the numbers these season from all pitchers that have seen action in the 8th show just how important Chamberlain has been in that role:
| Picher | K | BB | HR | ERA | ER/IP |
| Chris Britton | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | (0/2.0) |
| Jonathan Albaladejo | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.00 | (0/1.0) |
| Mariano Rivera | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.00 | (0/1.0) |
| Edwar Ramirez | 9 | 3 | 0 | 0.00 | (0/7.1) |
| Ian Kennedy | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | (0/1.0) |
| Billy Traber | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | (0/1.1) |
| Brian Bruney | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0.00 | (0/2.1) |
| *** Joba Chamberlain | 22 | 7 | 1 | 2.12 | (4/17.0) |
| Jose Veras | 5 | 1 | 1 | 4.91 | (2/3.2) |
| Kyle Farnsworth | 10 | 5 | 4 | 4.73 | (7/13.1) |
| LaTroy Hawkins | 1 | 2 | 1 | 18.00 | (8/4.0) |
| Ross Ohlendorf | 0 | 1 | 2 | 33.75 | (5/1.1) |
| *** Without Chamberlain | 27 | 14 | 8 | 5.17 | (22/38.1) |
Also factor in that until he gets stretched out, Chamberlain is likely only good for five innings a start, putting more stress onto a sub-standard bullpen. He's a strikeout pitcher that runs up a high pitch count to get the job. Also, he's an emotional type, something that he'll need to harness to avoid burning himself out quickly.
If they had someone else of equal competence to step into Joba's shoes, this move would be a no-brainer. Right now, it looks like veteran Kyle Farnsworth will be the guy, but as Yankee fans know, he's anything but automatic. Monday night in Minnesota, Farnsworth came into the eighth to bridge the gap between starter Andy Pettitte and Rivera. All that he did was give up three hits and a walk in his inning of work and get saddled with the loss.
These are now interesting times in the Bronx, but, really, when isn't it? Instead of having Joba available every other day, he'll now only pitch on every fifth. This smacks of desperation at a time when the Yankees season hangs in the balance. Luckily, we'll all be there beginning tonight to witness it first-hand.
WHERE'S YOUR PAPI?
And while the Yankees make this transition, the Red Sox suddenly find themselves without the heart of their lineup and clubhouse. David Ortiz is headed to the disabled list after partially tearing a sheath around a tendon in his left wrist. The diagnosis is that Big Papi is likely out a month and a decision needs to made on whether surgery is the best course of action. The Red Sox deep line-up can withstand this setback better than most, but it certainly helps the Blue Jays post-season aspirations with Ortiz on the sidelines for an extended period.
NOBODY'S PERFECT
All that the Blue Jays back-to-back walk-off losses in Anaheim weekend showed is that their bullpen is human after all. Nobody in their right mind could have expected them, as a group, to be so dominant to date, and closer B.J. Ryan, just a year removed from Tommy John surgery, to not suffer the odd hiccup. His first blown save of 2008 snatched loss out of the jaws of victory, but it shouldn't have even come to that. It looked like the calendar got flipped back to April, offensively, in the first three innings of the game when Angels starter laboured through 75 pitches, allowing eight Jays to reach base, but only allowing single runs in each inning. That kept the Angels in a game should have been an early blow out. It's a team game and that was a team loss, and shouldn't be placed at the feet of their closer.
