The Joba issue has always been less about what the Yankees want to do and more about avoiding the ire of the Steinbrenners. Here's Hank back in 2008:
"I want him as a starter. You don't have a guy with a 100-mile-per-hour fastball and keep him as a set-up guy. You just don't do that. You have to be an idiot to do that."
And later,
"The mistake was already made last year switching him to the bullpen out of panic or whatever. I had no say in it last year and I wouldn't have allowed it. That was done last year, so now we have to catch up. It has to be done on a schedule so we don't rush him."
We haven't seen Joba in the bullpen since.
So Girardi has found a way. Rather than moving Joba to the bullpen, which of course he wants to do but which would be going over Hank's head, Girardi simply limits Joba's pitch count (35 pitches yesterday) to that of a reliever.
Problem solved.
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Really? How many innings did Joba pitch in average now?
ReplyDeleteHe was pitching 4-7 innings, but this time he was removed after 3 innings and 35 pitches, and that seems to be the plan for the future. They're keeping his pitch count at the rate of a reliever, it seems.
ReplyDeleteThen probably next year they'll treat him almost like a "normal" pitcher.
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