Joba's not perfect

There was some stunned disbelief in the crowd when Joba Chamberlain served up a three-run home run to David Dellucci in the eighth inning tonight, costing the Yankees a game. Here’s my question: Why? Sure, Joba has been virtually unhittable during the first 36 innings of his big-league career, but let’s not forget he’s still a 22-year-old rookie. We’ve watched Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy battle themselves, their command and just about everything else during the first five weeks of the season; why shouldn’t Joba be allowed to do the same thing? Because when you start your career with the kind of bang that Chamberlain has, people tend to forget that he’s still a rookie. Let’s get one thing straight, folks; this isn’t going to be the last time Joba deals with this, especially if the Yankees go through with their plans to make him a starter. If that happens, he’s going to go through even more of this than he would if he remains a ... [link]