That seems to the be the consensus after last night’s game anyway, in which he blanked the Astros over four innings. It wasn’t a start — he got the four inning save — and it wasn’t really against major league hitters, but Joe Girardi and the gang were pleased with his command, the fact that he was using his changeup a lot and stuff like that.
Joba Chamberlain faces the Phillies today, and unless he dazzles, you have to wonder if his ticket to the bullpen won’t be punched by sundown.
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- DiamondDuq - Mar 17, 2010 at 9:07 AM
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This is playing out, so far, exactly how I hoped it would. It’s becoming easy for them to make the “right” decision. Joba is an elite short relief pitcher and while he may develop into a good starter I don’t think he’ll ever be anyone’s number 1 but tomorrow he’s one of the top 10 relievers in the game. Hughes, on the other hand, hasn’t shown as drastic a difference between his quality as a starter vs. his quality as a reliever and though he may also never be a number 1 starter, not having him in the bullpen isn’t as big a discrepancy as not having Joba there. Additionally, no one can predict a guy’s durability but we’ve already seen some “chinks in (Joba’s) armor” in relation to his ability to be a 200 inning guy.
