When Joba Chamberlain left last night's game with stiffness in his right shoulder, all I could do was wonder if this signaled the end of the Yankee season. The Yankees have sent Joba back to New York for tests and they've said he'll miss at least his next start. If those tests uncover something more serious than just stiffness and he misses more than a few starts, the Yankees might as well fold their tents and call it a season.
The Yankees failure to make a deal for a pitcher before the non-waiver trade deadline only magnifies what happened to Joba last night. Now, with a big weekend series in Anaheim coming up, the Yankee rotation looks like David going up against Goliath. Of course, David ended up slaying Goliath. I'm not so sure "David" will be as victorious this time around, however.
The next couple of days will be critical for Yankees Universe. They will signal either an outside chance of October baseball in the Bronx, or a good chance that, for the first time in twelve years, the Yankees and their fans will be saying "Wait 'till next year."
Excellent article. However, I don't think that this marks the end of the Yankees season at all. If anything, it gives the Yanks even more reason to play harder. I think Joba is an exceptional pitcher, but he is only one pitcher after all. At best, he's winning 20% of your games. I think this hurts them but not enough to ruin their season.
Posted by: Sanat Sethi | August 05, 2008 at 01:50 PM
I agree completely with the previous comment. The Yankees are one of those teams which, even when it seems impossible, find a way to make it into the playoffs. I say "one of those teams", but I can't really think of another team like it (Sorry Braves fans). I guess only time will tell whether the Yankees can overcome the odds to once again make the playoffs. But in the past, it has been the explosive offense, not lights out pitching, that has catapulted the pinstripes to the top.
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Posted by: stefan | August 05, 2008 at 06:10 PM
It's true, Sanat, that Joba is only one pitcher and that explosive offense got the team into the playoffs in the past, stefan, but with names like Ponson, Giese and Rasner in the rest of the rotation and with the offense being far from explosive for most of this season, it's hard for me to believe that they can make that stretch run this year.
Posted by: Bernadette Pasley | August 06, 2008 at 06:05 AM