Tomorrow Could Be Joba's Final Relief Outing

From Kat O'Brien:

The Yankees are aiming for Chamberlain to throw 50 to 55 pitches tomorrow as they continue to prepare him to join the rotation. He threw a career-high 40 pitches Saturday.

If he hits 55 pitches tomorrow and is on track to throw 65 to 70 the next time out, it might be difficult to count on getting so many pitches in a relief appearance. So instead of trying to bring Chamberlain in as early as the fifth inning, the Yankees might have him make his final relief outing tomorrow.

"It could be, but we'll see," manager Joe Girardi said.

If Chamberlain were to pitch as a starter in his next game after that, the Yankees would need to have someone prepared to piggyback the game with him and pitch at least a few innings.

This is what I suggested they should do yesterday, I think it makes managing this process easier on Girardi, and I think it helps Joba get settled into the starter role quicker.

Girardi also said that the Yankees have decided that Joba will not be sent down at any point during this process, and that the Yanks will have to think about the idea of using a 6-man starting rotation. All of the current starters have good numbers with 5 days rest, and all but Ian Kennedy have good numbers with 6+ days rest.

Chien-Ming Wang: 5 days - 14-2, 3.64 ERA (22 starts) . . . 6+ days - 6-3, 3.01 ERA (12 starts)

Andy Pettitte: 5 days - 48-31, 3.97 ERA (101 starts) . . . 6+ days - 14-13, 3.92 ERA (42 starts)

Mike Mussina: 5 days - 64-36, 3.39 ERA (122 starts) . . . 6+ days - 30-19, 3.87 ERA (60 starts)

Darrell Rasner: 5 days - 1-0, 1.59 ERA (2 starts) . . . 6+ days - 4-3, 3.69 ERA (7 starts)

Ian Kennedy: 5 days - 0-0, 2.25 ERA (2 starts) . . . 6+ days - 1-2, 5.68 ERA (5 starts)