Last updated: 11:34 am
July 7, 2008
Posted: 3:44 am
July 6, 2008
JOBA Chamberlain starts tonight against the Red Sox, and it is not that big a deal. Part of the reason is that this will now be his seventh major-league start.
But it also is not quite that big a deal because the men who have replaced Chamberlain in the set-up role have done a fine job. That has extinguished the biggest fear about Joba's transition: That the Yankee season would combust in the seventh and eighth innings without Chamberlain's dominance there.
The reality is that if the hitters and/or starters were doing as well as a group as the set-up men, the Yankees would not be teetering toward despair. The Yanks lost the first two games of their four-game series against the Red Sox. But the bullpen permitted just one run in 81/3 innings - and that run was generated against mop-up man LaTroy Hawkins.
Yesterday, given a 2-0 lead to protect after Mike Mussina's six strong innings, Jose Veras and Kyle Farnsworth each pitched a perfect inning. It was Mariano Rivera who was shaky before righting himself to get out of bases-loaded, no-out peril to finalize a 2-1 Yankee triumph.
Now Farnsworth continues to permit too many homers, and Veras, Edwar Ramirez, Dan Giese and David Robertson would not exactly win a famous face contest - even at Yankee Stadium. But Joe Girardi has demonstrated a willingness to maintain faith in Farnsworth and use all the arms at his disposal - mostly to good results.
Chamberlain began to make his transition on May 21, first in prescribed pen outings before moving to the rotation. In the time since, the Yanks have just one blown save, and that came when Hawkins could not hold a 10th-inning lead in Baltimore on May 27. Since May 22, the pen is 9-5 and two of the losses are by Rivera.
The Yanks have essentially gone through a bullpen cleansing. Ross Ohlendorf was sent down, Billy Traber yo-yos between Triple-A and the majors (let's call it the Chris Britton slot) and Hawkins has been de-emphasized.
What remains has worked pretty well. It is yet another example of how unpredictable a season is, especially this one in which Tampa is in first place and the Indians - one victory shy of the World Series last year - are about to trade C.C. Sabathia.
The great debate of this Yankee season was over how to use Chamberlain. A sizeable contingent felt the fireballing righty should remain a set-up man, dominating now while apprenticing to replace Rivera. But even those who supported the switch assumed it would severely undercut the Yanks' playoff chances.
I was in this category. I knew the Yanks had to gauge if Chamberlain could truly grow into a top-of-the-rotation figure. But what I anticipated was one Farnsworth failure after another followed by a July recasting in which the Yanks would be forced to audition several relievers in hopes one or two would emerge to bring competence.
Yet, in the six weeks since Chamberlain began working toward his new role, the inconsistencies of the offense have hurt the Yanks far more than Farnsworth. The need to dig all the way down to Darrell Rasner and Sidney Ponson as starters has been more debilitating than entrusting big outs to Ramirez and Veras.
It should all make Yankee fans think this: Thank goodness Chamberlain is in the rotation.
