All season we have debated, much to the fans chagrin, Joba Chamberlain bullpen vs. starter. That is no longer the issue today because it’s clear that the organization is fully committed to developing Joba as a starter. If he were going to the pen, they had their opportunity, and the decision was Phil Hughes. Just like the organization did with Melky Cabrera and Phil Hughes last year, they should send Joba down to Scranton for seasoning.

Even when he was pitching “well” Joba was plagued by bad control and constant base runners. Look at his one good month (April). He had a 3.13 ERA, but his WHIP was at 1.5 (sounds a whole lot like the career of Sergio Mitre). I am not fooled by his month of June since his improved numbers were a result of the eight inning performance against a lousy Cleveland team at Jacobs Field. Joba’s WHIP is now at a whopping 2.5 for the month of July. More concerning is that he can barely navigate 5 innings of a ballgame. This puts strain on the Yankees bullpen, but more importantly, doesn’t give the Yankees a great chance of winning his starts every five days.

The pressure to improve will only get worse as the second half begins. The Red Sox have opened up their lead again and Tampa is right behind. One of the reasons the Yankees didn’t make the playoffs in 2008 was because they couldn’t get quality starts more than 3 times every 5 days. Knowing Pettitte’s age, it isn’t farfetched to believe the dog days of August could yield similar results.

The solution is easy. Send him down to Scranton and work through the problems. I find it hard to believe that he can do this in the middle of a pennant race in New York. Perhaps you just send him down for a month. Have him work with the organizations guru’s and determine if it’s physical or mental. You will find, in my opinion, it’s probably a little of both. In the meantime leave Alfredo Aceves in Wang’s rotation slot and bring Sergio Mitre up to replace Joba. Is Mitre’s 1.5 WHIP any worse than Joba’s? I am sure readers of the site will explain why shortly.

If you want to save 2009 for Joba, and possibly help him improve for 2010, being sent down would not be the worst thing to happen to him. Success for Joba came after just 88 minor league innings. It wouldn’t hurt him to rack up a few more and maybe serve him some humble pie as well.

To hear Howard and I debate this topics download Sunday’s podcast and fast forward to about the 25 to 30 minute mark.

Tags: Joba Chamberlain, New York Yankees, Phil Hughes, Scranton Yankees, Sergio Mitre