Joba Chamberlain Could Start Yankee Stadium Opener

When talking to reporters the other day Joe Girardi outlined parameters for his starting rotation which includes CC Sabathia, AJ Burnett, Andy Pettitte, Chien-Ming Wang, and Joba Chamberlain.

Girardi said he would want to separate the lefties, Sabathia and Pettitte, to keep teams from getting too comfortable. He also said he wants to keep Burnett and Joba apart so teams don’t see similar pitchers on back-to-back days.

That gives him a few combinations, but a likely scenario would be:

Sabathia
Wang
Burnett
Pettitte
Joba

This led to the New Stadium Insider blog to start thinking about the rotation in terms of the regular season schedule. The way they lined it up, assuming Joba’s first start is not skipped, ended up like this:

April 6: @BAL Sabathia
April 7: OFF DAY
April 8: @BAL Wang or Burnett
April 9: @BAL Wang or Burnett
April 10: @KC Pettitte
April 11: @KC Chamberlain
April 12: @KC Sabathia
April 13: @TB Wang or Burnett
April 14: @TB Wang or Burnett
April 15: @TB Pettitte
April 16: Home Opener vs. CLE Chamberlain

So if they are right, and I think they are, that leaves Joba to open up the new stadium April 16 against Cleveland.

I initially thought that Pettitte would likely be set up to start the home opener since he is the veteran with four rings, but it would be as fitting to have Joba open the stadium since he potentially could be pitching there for 15 more years.

Of course if they want to be sentimental and keep the rotation in this order Pettitte could just start the exhibition games against the Cubs before the season starts.

I could still see Pettitte getting the nod, or somebody else entirely. Injuries and the weather have a way of keeping plans from materializing. We’re just going to have to wait and see what happens.