Girardi's rule for Joba: No 3 out of 4 days
Joba Chamberlain #62 of the New York Yankees reacts after getting out of trouble in the 8th inning against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park. (April 6, 2010) Credit: Getty Images
BOSTON - Joe Girardi's said for now he's hesitant to use Joba Chamberlain in three straight games over four days but that occurrence isn't far off.
"As far as taking it slow, I'm not afraid for him to go back-to-back at this point," Girardi said before last night's game. "But I'm not real comfortable with him necessarily going three out of four days yet. It will take a little time to work out. As far as there being a time frame, no. I think you have to watch the first time he does go three out of four [games], how he responds physically. [But] he's not far off from being turned loose as a full-fledged reliever."
Girardi said he went into last night's game "leaning" toward not using Chamberlain for two reasons. He didn't want to use him three out of four days and, more significantly, the righty needed 33 pitches Sunday in his 1 1/3 innings.
"I think it's more the three out of four because he had a complete day off but if he had thrown only 15 the first day, I might be more apt to use him [Wednesday]," Girardi said. "I think it's a combination of both."
Chamberlain looked almost like his 2007 self Tuesday, coming in with one out in the eighth inning and striking out Adrian Beltre with a 96-mph fastball and J.D. Drew on an 86-mph slider. "It was great to see, that's what you want to see," Girardi said. "You want to see him come in and just be able to get two really important outs in that situation. Some days it's going to be three, some days it might even be four. But that's great to see."
Extra bases
RHP Chan Ho Park pitched last night after battling the flu the previous two nights . . . The Yankees acquired OF Chad Huffman off waivers from the Padres and added him to the roster, which now stands at 40 players. Huffman, a righty who spent last season with Triple-A Portland and hit .269 with 20 homers and 68 RBI in 135 games, will report to Triple-A Scranton-Wilkes-Barre. Last season, Huffman played 103 games in leftfield, 17 games at first and 14 games at DH.
