Saturday, June 14, 2008

Joba Progress Continues

89 pitches (approximately 55 fastballs) in six full innings of work were logged by the Yankees top pitching star as he continues on his path toward becoming a full time starter. The word is that the next time out, there will be no pitch limit for Chamberlain. He apparently was throwing in the mid to high nineties even in the sixth inning. Things are looking good right now for Joba and the real test will come down the road at the end of the season, where it remains to be seen if he can stay healthy and productive.

Chamberlain struck out two and walked four, and needs to work on efficiency on the mound when he's starting. All three Yankee youngsters, Hughes, Kennedy, and Chamberlain have had a tendency to get worked deep into counts and have hefty pitch counts.

Jose Veras got the win and was the go-to guy in the set-up role. In a shocking move, Girardi used Farnsworth as a closer to hold down the one run lead in the ninth inning. I don't know if this means Joe still does have ultimate faith in the dicey Farnsworth, or that he just felt bad for not having played the guy in a while. Personally, I've got Veras penciled in as my set-up guy and Ramirez as my alternate closer when you need to give Rivera a night off.

Jose Molina, Robinson Cano and Wilson Betemit are batting .216, .217, and .218 respectively. It will be interesting to see what the Yankees do catcher-wise next year, when Cervelli will hopefully be healthy again and Chad Moeller remains an option. Robinson Cano is trade bait in my mind. Perhaps some desperate team thinks he's got potential and can actually get him to listen to a pitching coach. Betemit is the caliber of a bench player on the Pittsburgh Pirates. I'd cut or DFA him as soon as possible and get Alberto Gonzalez back. Then again, if you read this blog on occasion, you already knew that.

Kudos to Derek Jeter for his timely home run that put the Yanks on top.

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