Should Joba Chamberlain be starting?

[Thadeus]

Should Steinbrenner shut his trap and let Girardi and Cashman do their job? Maybe Joba would be better off starting.

[BunnyHardaway]

Re: Should Joba Chamberlain be starting?

Well, I'd say that there's 2 places for someone with as nasty of stuff as Joba has: closer or starter, and right now he's neither. There's no way you relegate him to closer without giving him the chance to prove himself as a starter at the ML level, so I say he should be in the rotation...but not until he regains his stamina.

[NYJets]

Re: Should Joba Chamberlain be starting?

If the plan truly is to use him in the bullpen part of the year and then no matter what transition him into a starter then they should stick to their plan.

He has to be a starter at some point this year. Better later in the year than now so he doesn't go over his innings limit, but he needs to start this season or eventually it will be too late to put him where he belongs, in the rotation.

[BunnyHardaway]

Re: Should Joba Chamberlain be starting?

If Kennedy continues to struggle, I say screw the plan and get Joba ready ASAP.

[Sandman42]

Re: Should Joba Chamberlain be starting?

Yes, but by the middle of the season. If he were to start now he'd pass his innings limit by August. It would make more sense to just leave him in the bullpen until late June or so. Send him down to the minors for a week or two to get ready, then bring him up to start somewhere around the All Star break.

If IPK keeps struggling I doubt they'd move Joba to the rotation now. They would probably call up (gulp) Kei Igawa.

Also the pen should be fine without Joba in it. They just have to minimize the innings thrown by Farnsworth and Hawkins. Guys like Bruney, Ohlendorf, Albaladejo, Patterson should be effective relievers. Then there's also the possibility that they could call up another prospect like Horne, Sanchez, or Melancon later in the year if they feel they are ready.

[CMH]

Re: Should Joba Chamberlain be starting?

If Kennedy continues to struggle, I say screw the plan and get Joba ready ASAP.

Why Kennedy? What about Hughes.

To me Hughes has been worse. He's all over the place. Kennedy's biggest issue has been missing the corners.

But when a guy with Hughes stuff is throwing 3-5 mph slower and not challenging hitters you have to wonder what's going on in his head.

[ehh]

Re: Should Joba Chamberlain be starting?

He needs to stay in the bullpen for this entire season, IMO. If they try to move him to the rotation mid-season it would be foolish.

A) We lose him for 4-5 weeks while he's in the minors getting into "starter's shape".

B) Who replaces him as the set-up man? The middle relief has been alright this year but I don't trust any of those guys in the 8th inning.

C) You can't move him into the rotation soon because he'd go over his inning limit way to early in the season and wouldn't be able to pitch in the post season.

D) By the time he's into the Yankees rotation it will have been approx a year since he started a professional baseball game. How do we know if he's going to be able to get past the 5th inning or have other issues like Hughes and Kennedy? How sharp is the break on his slider going to be after 85 pitches? Where is his fastball going to sit when he's pacing himself? 96? 98? Heck, is he even going to have the discipline to pace himself? How are hitters going to do against him on the third time through the lineup?

There are too many questions and too much that can go wrong. The plan was to leave the kid in the pen for now and possibly move him into the rotation later in the year. Stick to that for now (even though I don't agree with moving him in later unless we're 10 games outta the playoff picture).

To think Joba is going to step into the rotation this year and be Josh Beckett is foolish. I would think Yankee brass and fans alike would realize that from Hughes' and Kennedy's slow starts but I guess not.

[NYJets]

Re: Should Joba Chamberlain be starting?

All of those are good points, but all of those are just about this year and I don't think it is all about this year with him. If he stays in the bullpen all year, we are going to be in the same situation next year as far as innings limits. He has a limit that he can't go over, but they also need to try and get him as close as possible to that limit. If they don't he will never be able to progress towards a 200+ inning a year pitcher.

[BunnyHardaway]

Re: Should Joba Chamberlain be starting?

He needs to stay in the bullpen for this entire season, IMO. If they try to move him to the rotation mid-season it would be foolish.

A) We lose him for 4-5 weeks while he's in the minors getting into "starter's shape".

B) Who replaces him as the set-up man? The middle relief has been alright this year but I don't trust any of those guys in the 8th inning.

C) You can't move him into the rotation soon because he'd go over his inning limit way to early in the season and wouldn't be able to pitch in the post season.

D) By the time he's into the Yankees rotation it will have been approx a year since he started a professional baseball game. How do we know if he's going to be able to get past the 5th inning or have other issues like Hughes and Kennedy? How sharp is the break on his slider going to be after 85 pitches? Where is his fastball going to sit when he's pacing himself? 96? 98? Heck, is he even going to have the discipline to pace himself? How are hitters going to do against him on the third time through the lineup?

There are too many questions and too much that can go wrong. The plan was to leave the kid in the pen for now and possibly move him into the rotation later in the year. Stick to that for now (even though I don't agree with moving him in later unless we're 10 games outta the playoff picture).

To think Joba is going to step into the rotation this year and be Josh Beckett is foolish. I would think Yankee brass and fans alike would realize that from Hughes' and Kennedy's slow starts but I guess not.

Valid points, but IMO Joba has MUCH better stuff than either Kennedy or Hughes, which is saying something because they are both very talented. I don't think he'd have as many problems as those two are currently having.

[Chuck]

Re: Should Joba Chamberlain be starting?

Eventually he needs to be starting this year

[djep]

Re: Should Joba Chamberlain be starting?

Eventually he needs to be starting this year

That has always been the plan...just not after 20 games. That would be a panic move.

I don't see why the Yankees can't start stretching him out in the big leagues. Let him go 3 or 4 innings every 5 days. Between Kennedy, Hughes and Mussina there will be plenty of chances for him to throw 4 innings in a game as a long reliever.

[Vince]

Re: Should Joba Chamberlain be starting?

Man, this is all i hear about on sportscenter...

Joba this Joba that

[av7]

Re: Should Joba Chamberlain be starting?

How long have they been stretching him out? It seems like just a week and not starting a game for the minors.. He could fare well since he was a starter at Nebraska so he has some sort of stamina.

If he cant last as a starter, back to setup until he can take over closer imo

[NYJets]

Re: Should Joba Chamberlain be starting?

It's been about 2 weeks. And really the stretching out process has a long way to go until he's going to be throwing 100+ pitches. He's just starting to start games instead of come in out of the bullpen so they can make sure he gets his pitches in.

He'll be fine. It's just going to take some time.

[pfunk880]

Re: Should Joba Chamberlain be starting?

Yawn... about what I expected for his first start.

Could we wait until the guy actually does something before we lead off SportsCenter with him?