During the episode of “30 Teams in 30 Days” in which the yankees were featured a “debate”, for lack of a better word, broke out about Joba’s position in the rotation and if he would be more valuable in the bullpen. This was less of a debate and more of a plea to Joe Girardi to put Joba in the pen. The hosts of the show are not the only one’s saying this so I thought it deserved to be discussed. 

You don’t really need stats to understand why Joba is more valuable as a starter. This is how I KNOW that the Yankees decision to start Joba is the right decision:

1) All the idiot sportswriters and commentators seem to think he should be in the pen. This should almost be enough to convince you that he should be a starter. Whatever these morons think, the opposite is normally true. 

2) There’s no doubt that Joba is an extraordinary talent. If he can start, which it’s been proven he can, he should start. If we can agree that Joba is good, which he is, then it makes most sense to make sure he sees an optimal amount of innings. As a starter Joba will pitch more innings than he would as a reliever. He will therefore have the biggest impact for the team as a starter. This notion that he will affect more games as a reliever is absurd. Even if he pitches every game out of the pen there is no guarantee that the game will even be in reach for the Yanks. If he only pitches 5 innings per start that will still translate into more wins for the Yankees, which I think is what we all want. 

You also have to consider that if Joba is in the pen then someone else has to step in and be the 5th starter. This person, most likely Phil Hughes, would be more likely cost the Yankees games. If Hughes gives up 7 runs in the first 3 innings, what difference does it make if Joba strikes out the side in the eighth?

**Disclaimer** I am actually a big fan of Phil Hughes and I think that he will end up being really good for the Yanks. I just think he needs more time to develop which he should be able to do this season. I predict he’ll make at least 12 starts for the Yankees this year as injuries are almost a certainty.  

Besides the “He will affect more games!” argument which I just debunked another reason given to keep Joba in the pen is that he is needed to take over the reigns for Mariano Rivera as closer. This is ridiculous for a few different reasons:

1) As valuable as Rivera has been to the Yankees his value has been hindered by his role as “closer”. All you really need to be able to do to be an effective closer is to get three outs before you give up three runs, a task most pitchers can do. The overrated “save” stat has changed the game for the worst since normally the teams best relief pitcher is made prisoner to the closer role instead of being used where he is most needed (i.e. the 6th inning, up by one  run, runners on second and third, one out.) There are plenty of people who could easily step up into the 9th inning role for the Yanks including Brian Bruney, Jose Veras,and Edwar Ramirez just to name a few. There’s also this young guy named Melancon that people are talking about as a replacement for Mariano, as premature as it may be.

2) Just as easily as someone could step into the closer role the same could be said of the 8th inning. The Yankees have a TON of young talent pitching wise. There seems to be this thought that if Joba is not in the pen, the bullpen will not be good. This is simply not true as the Yankees should have one of the best pens in the majors. 

Another reason given for Joba in the pen is concern for injuries. This is really the only legitimate concern about making Joba a starter. Of course he could get injured  and that would be horrible. However there are ways to make injury less of a possibility. That’s what you work with conditioning coaches for. What’s that you say? His body is not made to be a starter?  Are you calling Joba fat? Truth-be-told he might be a little on the hefty side but he is far from obese. It’s also hard to use that as an excuse when the ace/workhorse of your staff is 300 freakin’ pounds!!! ( ok 290 but who’s counting?) There was also a former yankee hero who took awful care of his body but was still hugely successful. From all accounts there is no evidence that Joba is not taking excellent care of his body and shouldn’t be 100% prepared for the season.

It pains me to say that Max Kellerman, host on 1050ESPN Radio in NY, a man whose opinions I respect, has come out in favor of putting Joba in the pen. He says that he should be used as a “fireman” to come in for pressure innings to get key outs. That is all well and good but I have two problems with this.

1) Joba is still more valuable pitching more innings. His abilities as a relief pitcher can easily be approximated by others in the pen.

and

2) He would NEVER be used that way anyway. That’s simply not how Major League clubs are run today. Should they be? Yes I think so, but that’s not what would happen. Joba would most likely exclusively pitch the 8th inning rendering “fireman” status meaningless. 

I hope this helped to shed some light on this issue. I hope that I was able to finally put this to bed in your minds. Of course the idiot sportswriters will continue to spew their garbage but WE are smarter than them! Truth-be-told I think the only reason they want him in the pen is because they overvalue the closer position and they want someone to take over for Rivera when he (most likely) retires in two years.