LAKELAND, Fla. — Joba Chamberlain says he knows the deal when it comes to the fifth starter’s spot in Joe Girardi’s rotation.
Now he has to start pitching like it.
“I understand what’s at stake,” Chamberlain said after getting spanked by the Tigers at Joker Marchant Stadium yesterday in a 9-8 Yankees victory. “You got to get better. You can’t worry about what [the competition] is doing. There is a sense of urgency but not a panic button.”
Chamberlain is correct: Two outings into spring training isn’t time to panic.
The Yankees didn’t help him last year in the second half, when they limited his innings as a starter. And he is 24. But by now the Yankees believed Chamberlain would at least be close to a top-of-the-rotation hurler.
Yesterday when he was working on getting his pitches in on right-handed hitters, Chamberlain wasn’t easy to watch.
In 21⁄3 innings, Chamberlain gave up six runs, five hits, walked three and fanned one. Gerald Laird delivered a grand slam that highlighted a six-run third inning after Chamberlain didn’t allow a run in the first two frames.
“I got a little tired,” said Chamberlain, who was slowed by a stomach virus early in camp that cost him eight pounds and that bothered him in the last outing. But this week he declared himself at full strength.
And then he ran out of fuel.
“My delivery was a lot better, I need to keep my legs [strong]. I worked on throwing in and I didn’t cut any balls off,” said Chamberlain, who has given up eight hits and six walks in 32⁄3 spring innings. “I had a little hitch in my delivery and I fixed that. I will go to the bullpen and continue to work.”
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