In short, nothing. We certainly didn't learn that Joba has the makings of an ace starter. But we also didn't learn that he's a flop. It'll take the rest of the season to see what Joba can do with a role in the rotation. You just can't make judgments based on one start. And frankly, it'll be hard to make judgments on even a good start when the pitcher is limited to 75 pitches. If you're really really lucky, a strike out pitcher (who by nature needs a lot of pitches) will get to four or five innings on such a pitch count. But we knew that. How stupid is Hank Steinbrenner?
1. Joba's on a short leash so he'll be burnt out before the end of the season.
2. Joba's ego was strong in the bullpen but now you've underminded his confidence by throwing him into the rotation and letting him flop mightily -- when the upside was so low and the downside was so high.
3. The bullpen has lost about five games in the eighth innning in the past 10 days. Gee, think maybe you could use an ace bridge to secure the games you so desperately need?
4. Now every part of our pitching staff looks shaky, indeed is shaky.
5. I never felt the need to see what Joba could do as a starter if he could maintain his excellence as a bridge for the rest of the season and place himself in line to take over the monumentally hard task of Mo's role in a few years. But pushing Joba into the starting rotation this year when he was going to be on a short leash and would clearly be used up before the post-season was just about as dumb as possible, even if he succeeded.
So, let's hear from the people who insisted that we were idiots for not wanting to remove Joba from a role where he excelled (so far) and put him into a role where he would be done by Sept 1 no matter what.
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I know that was a veiled reference to me and Pete, but in the interest of accuracy allow me to remind you that we said it would be better to move Joba to the rotation NEXT YEAR once Moose is gone; that would give them the entire offseason to find a suitable replacement in the 'pen. That would also allow him to build up his arm strength in spring training so we don't have the ridiculous limit of 60-75 pitches for a starter.
That being said, once he builds up to 100 pitches he's going to be lights out. Frankly, I think moving Joba to the rotation now was an unnecessary act of desperation...they are basically giving up on this season and building for the future. Not the way to send out the old Stadium.
Actually, I'd argue that moving Joba to the rotation is a desperate attempt to win this season now. Building for the future would mean being patient and keeping Joba in the bullpen this year and -- if you chose -- moving him to the rotation in spring training 09. Steinbrenners just being dumb.
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