Darth Hank Finally Pulls Joba the Shut Over To The Start Side For Yankees

Ready or not New York, the day has come.

It's not often you see the Tampa Bay Rays in first place and the Bronx Bombers fighting to get out of the AL East basement. Andy Pettite, Mike Mussina, Chien-Ming Wang, Phil Hughes, and Ian Kennedy were supposed to be the winning lotto combo of hurlers for an offensively rich ball club looking for seven strong night-in and night-out.  

That hope quickly faded as the veteran starters looked like typical veterans and the rookies exposed their true colors.

Mussina and Pettite have made it out of the seventh inning a combined three out of 22 starts, with both supporting 4-plus ERA's.  Wang is the only Yankee opening day starter with an ERA below four (3.82).  Yet the four-year veteran's ERA has grown almost a full run in his last two starts.   Kennedy and Hughes have struggled mightily, allowing a combined 53 earned runs in 59 1/3 innings pitched.  

You don't need a brain surgeon to understand that the Yankees are desperate for starting pitching.  Hank Steinbrenner's logic makes complete sense.

 Instead of trading their future for a veteran arm whose years in the league may be limited, he's looking within their system to see where the team can find a stop-gap to this horrendous start.

Enter Joba.

Chamberlain, along with the surprising performance of Darrell Rasner, should add new life to a rather life-less rotation.  Although Rasner is 27, the young stud from Lincoln, Nebraska is a mere 22.  Some say that's alot of pressure on a young player.  Those that say that don't know Joba.

Not many 22 year-olds could take New York by storm like Chamberlain.  He infused youthful blood into this franchise last season, only allowing one run in four of his 21 appearances and an 18-3 record in games he appeared.  

In 2008, Joba has been stellar as a middle reliever.  He's only allowed a run in three of 20 appearances.  For a high-profile team to struggle the way the Yanks are struggling, this move is a no-brainer.  The current formula isn't working, and after the departure of Joe Torre, pressure is on new skipper Joe Girardi to bring a championship back to the Bronx.  At this point, Girardi is merely striving for a .500 record.

Joba will be making his first start against the Toronto Blue Jays on Tuesday.  The Associated Press is reporting that Girardi plans on limiting him to 65-70 pitches--which is a smart move.    

As is plugging him into the starting rotation.