Thursday, May 22, 2008

The Transition Has Begun

According to manager Joe Girardi the process of transitioning Joba Chamberlain from reliever to starter has begun.

Girardi also stated that the Joba will stay with the Yankees, so the transition will most likely not be done in the minors, which is very good news to this blogger. I always thought the idea of sending him down to "stretch him out" was stupid and could be done on the major league level. I was very happy to find out that the Yankees feel the same way.

According to Girardi there is no set date for when he will start, but they will continue to stretch him out in the coming weeks.

Candidates for the setup role include Kyle Farnsworth (no thanks), Mark Melancon who is 2-0 with a 2.67 ERA, with 28 H, 7 BB and 28 K in 30.1 IP with Tampa and Trenton, J. B. Cox who has a 1.65 ERA with 12 H, 5 BB and 8 K in 16.1 IP with Tampa, Trenton and Scranton, David Robertson who is 1-o with an 1.61 ERA with 14 H, 36 K and 13 BB in 28 IP with Trenton and Scranton, and Scott Patterson who is 1-0 with 1 SV, and 17 H, 19 K and just 5 BB in 20 IP with Scranton. Edwar Ramirez, who has been lights-out so far this year in Scranton and with the Yankees, may also be an option and there are probably several more pitchers that I can't think of right now who also could fill the role.

The Yankees have a future ace on their hands with Joba, and this is the right move.

7 Comments:

Unknown said...

I guess Id start with Ramirez and Farnsworth on committee duty while Ohlendorf is still on long man, Then reverting Farnsy to the 7th with Latroy.

I think Robertson is the first we should promote. 36K in 28IP? near 3:1 K/BB ratio? Less than 1.00 WHIP? That's major league stuff.

Greg Cohen said...

Yep agreed, one way or another the Yanks will find their man for the 8th.

Anonymous said...

The 'transition'? Sounds like they're transporting plutonium. Take off the kid gloves and stick him in the rotation already, sheesh.

Anonymous said...

Yea, I think Ramirez should get first crack at the 8th inning but once they send Kennedy down then Patterson should get his chance.

Anonymous said...

sorry to go off topic but I was just wondering what the traffic is like at the stadium these days? Any tips on where to park so I can take the train to avoid the construction traffic after the game?

Greg Cohen said...

anonymous, they have to transition him, unless of course you'd like to lose him for the rest of the year to an arm injury.

anonymous 2, I'm wondering what happens if Kennedy pitches well over the next few weeks, and Rasner continues to pitch like he has been. What will they do then? Do they go with a 6-man rotation? It will be very interesting to see how everything works out.

anonymous 3, I like in Jersey so I usually driving into the City, park on 86th and take the Subway to the game. It may sound like an added step, but I can stay at the game to the end and not worry about the traffic coming home.

From what I've seen the traffic looks terrible, maybe even worse than it used to be.

Unknown said...

Best place to park now (I used to park at macombs where the new park is now..) is actually right on the exit ramp for the deegan.

If youre traveling south on 87, hop off the macombs dam bridge exit.

Make a left at that awful light that lasts three seconds... then instead of going straight to the stadium, stay right and jump on the ramp as if if you were heading back north on the Deegan.

That ramp that spirals down back toward the highway used to be off-limits, but now its my favorite spot to park, just throw it right in there on the grass and throw the dude 5 bucks whos standing there. Its a short walk from there and you can stop off at the cheap hotdog man(seriously, they're great too) right in front of the main lot across the street from the bat. This spot also makes a quick getaway even easier.

*note* I assume NO responsiblity for any tickets you may/may not get, I've been parking there three years now(when I don't have time to hop on the LIRR to take the train, which is obviously the smart thing to do, but it takes a couple hours some days) with no problems but ya never know :-) and don't park next to any of the limousines sitting under there either... theyll ding you up on the way out in a heartbeat.