From Mike Puma:
May 29, 2008 -- Count Graig Nettles among the "nay" voters in Joba Chamberlain's conversion from reliever to starter.
The former Yankee captain, a spring-training instructor for the club, isn't sure Chamberlain will become a dominant starter, but has seen enough of the right-hander to know he's an exceptional reliever.
"[Chamberlain] was doing a good job in his role as a set-up man," Nettles said last night as he signed autographs as part of "Pinstripes in the Park" at Manhattan's Bryant Park.
"[Set-up] seems like an easy job, but it's getting harder and harder to get to the ninth inning.
"A lot of people have different opinions on it, but I would just [prefer that Chamberlain] stay with the eighth inning."
Nettles added that it's difficult for a pitcher to make the transition to starter during the season, and the move probably should have occurred earlier if the Yankees were sure that was the direction they were headed.
"I would have done it in spring training," he said.
The only part of this that I agree with is that this transition during the season seems a little bit tricky. It would have been easier if they did this in spring training, but then they would have had to either send Kennedy to AAA to start the year, which really wouldn't have been a bad idea, or start the season with a 6-man rotation, which also may not have been a bad idea.
If they had begun the process in spring training, then Joba probably won't be able to finish the season due to the inning limit. There's not really a definite way to do this right.
ReplyDeleteI know what you're saying, and it's true. But what I thought they should do was start him in the rotation and move him to the pen when he was close to his inning limit, this way you have the strongest bullpen possible down the stretch and into the playoffs.
ReplyDeleteBut the truest thing you said was that "there's not really a definite way to do this right."
It's a tough situation. I just hope it works out in the end.