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With the playoffs looming, Yankees manager Joe Girardi told reporters in New York Saturday that Joba Chamberlain will make an appearance out of the bullpen during Sunday's season finale against the Rays. The idea is to see how Chamberlain handles the shorter warmup time after a year in the starting rotation to determine if he is fit to work out of the 'pen in the American League Division Series later in the week. The Yankees indicated about two weeks ago that they were looking at using 10 pitchers in the Division Series, which would seem to suggest that they're looking at choosing the schedule with an extra off day, allowing them to use three starting pitchers in the series. Since those three pitchers will almost certainly be CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett, and Andy Pettitte, it makes sense to get Chamberlain some relief work before the series starts.
Girardi said he'll be watching Chamberlain "closely" tomorrow, so it's possible that they've already made the decision to go with three starters and are determining whether they want Joba on the roster at all for the first round. Chamberlain said that even though he hasn't made a relief appearance in a year, he's not worried about the change because of his prior experience in the 'pen.
Given that the Yanks will likely need a fourth starter should they make the ALCS, and that Chamberlain may well be that guy (it's either him or Chad Gaudin), I don't know if Girardi would actually keep him off the roster completely, even with his struggles of late. There aren't seven pitchers in the Yankees' bullpen better than Joba, and even though Phil Hughes has his old spot as the eighth-inning guy locked down right now, I think there's still a spot for Chamberlain to fill as the long reliever/matchup guy in the first round.
Given that the Yanks will likely need a fourth starter should they make the ALCS, and that Chamberlain may well be that guy (it's either him or Chad Gaudin), I don't know if Girardi would actually keep him off the roster completely, even with his struggles of late. There aren't seven pitchers in the Yankees' bullpen better than Joba, and even though Phil Hughes has his old spot as the eighth-inning guy locked down right now, I think there's still a spot for Chamberlain to fill as the long reliever/matchup guy in the first round.
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