I had taken the stance over the past couple of years that Joba should be a starter. Many facts contributed to my opinion, but the 2008/2009 off-season completely reversed my way of thinking on this issue.There are 2 words I can say to summarize when I thought the Yankees should move Joba to the bullpen. Its not "CC Sabathia", "AJ Burnett", or "Mark Teixeira". No, the Yanks should have changed their position once "Andy Pettitte" re-signed with the team. One of the main reasons that the Bombers needed Joba in the rotation before 2009 was because of the lack of quality pitching on the team. With the past off-season, Brian Cashman went out and bought himself a new pitching staff. That's fine. In fact I applaud him for it. It was clear that over the past few seasons the strategy of buy an offense and pray for pitching would not be successful. Even after the Yankees signed Sabathia and Burnett, I was STILL on the "Joba is a starter" side of the argument.
At that time, the Yanks' rotation was slated to be Sabathia, Burnett, Wang, and Joba, with the 5th spot up for grabs. Then they went out and re-signed Pettitte, ending a 2 month long dance that culminated with good ol' #46 continuing his career in pinstripes. It was at THIS POINT that the Yankees should have changed direction and had Joba shutting teams down at the back-ends of ballgames.
With Pettitte added to that rotation and an opportunity for a youngster like Phil Hughes to come into Spring Training and EARN a spot, instead of being handed one, this Yankee's staff could have been phenomenal from Opening Day. Instead, the bullpen has been an utter disaster. Unproven guys have been remarkably inconsistent and reliable veterans have been buckling under the pressure of holding teams to minor leads so the offense can strike. With Joba in the rotation this year, the Yankees are also hamstrung as to how much they can pitch him. He is under strict orders this year to not pitch over 150 innings. Now, what happens if he gets to 148 innings by mid-September? Do they shut him down for the pennant run? Do they not include Joba on the post-season roster? In todays game, I just dont see how you can use a hardline number like that and expect to be competitive all year round. Here's a simple solution. Put Joba in the pen. Not as an 8th inning guy. Use him as a 7th AND 8th inning guy. How valuable would that be? Your starting pitchers now only need to pitch a 6 inning game. Joba comes in the 7th throwing flames, continues in the 8th, then Mo for the 9th to shut it down. Its a formula that works (just ask the '96 Yanks). Not only can you use him in save situations, he'd be ideal for keeping opposing teams from increasing leads late in games. It couldn't have been more evident than this past week. General storyline: Yanks trail early, fight back late to whittle the lead down to 1 or 2 runs, other team scores a bunch of runs late off bullpen to put game out of reach. With Joba waiting behind the outfield walls, those teams likely would have held where they were and the vaunted Yankee offense could have made the headlines. Need a spot starter? There's Joba - a GOOD use of limiting him to 5 innings. With an attack on using Joba in this fashion, he can approach the 150 innings just as well with remaining fresh for the playoffs, as well as helping the team in ints most vulnerable area. Speaking of the playoffs, Joba is the Yankees 5th starter - aka he wont start in October, why not start now?
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