Friday Fungos: Joba starting, Padres stinking…

As we head into the Memorial Day weekend, let’s take a tour of the baseball landscape…

• The Yankees have begun the process of making Joba Chamberlain a starting pitcher. First, as I’ve written before (here), the correct role for Chamberlain is the starting rotation. What I dislike is the fact that he is now conditioned to be a reliever and has to stretch out. The Yankees’ plan seems to be to pitch Chamberlain in relief and build his pitch count from there. It seems illogical that this plan won’t include a trip to the minors. First, he has to get used to warming up to start a game. The routine and feeling is completely different. Second, it will create a problem when Chamberlain will have pitch five innings or so. Once stretched out, Chamberlain will give a burst of energy to the rotation and have a better impact over more innings.
• Sticking with the Yankees, hopefully fans can see how valuable Alex Rodriguez is to the team. While he was out, the Yankees offense was pathetic and easy to pitch to with so many left handed batters bunched together. Not only does Arod swing his prodigious bat, he also helps balance the lineup.
• It’s no surprise here that the Padres are horrendous, but the way they are losing is completely unreal. Jake Peavy is already on the disabled list and Chris Young joined him after he was nearly decapitated by Albert Pujols. With the putrid offense, the Padres will need to revamp their team and call up guys like Chase Headley and not give at bats to guys like Jody Gerut.  The Padres do have the makings of a good team, but much more work needs to be done, besides staying healthy. They should bag this year and come back strong in ’09.
• John Smoltz is working his way back from shoulder issues. He’ll reprise his role as the Braves’ closer. Smoltz is working on a lower arm slot to take some of the burden off his shoulder. I don’t like that he is playing with arm angles. That means, to me, that he is really hurting. It will be interesting to see if he can go back to back nights when he resumes the closer role. Smoltz is a warrior on the field so I don’t doubt that he will be successful.
• Bartolo Colon did about what you would expect. He threw 5 innings and gave up two runs and struck out four in his debut for the Boston Red Sox.  The Sox have to be happy with that performance for his first time back in the big leagues. Colon hit low 90′s on the radar gun and showed he could still get hitters out. The low risk could turn into a valuable member of the Sox rotation. Expect Colon to post solid numbers and fitting in nicely with the rest of the Sox. Once again, the Red Sox seemed to be ahead of the curve. Speaking of curves, Colon has never and I mean never looked as “big” as he did two nights ago. Nice job staying in shape, Bart!
• Clayton Kershaw, the flamethrowing 20 year old Dodgers prospect, was removed from his start early yesterday. The LA papers say that he may get called up on Saturday. It’s not the first time this has been speculated, but Kershaw is someone who could take the baseball world by storm if he gets a shot. He has scary stuff.
• Can someone tell me why the Pirates are playing Doug Mientkiewicz at third base regularly? It’s just a stupid move from a clueless franchise. Yes, this will get you out of the basement. I can’t believe the Yankees never played him there.
• Maybe the Twins weren’t being cheap when they didn’t want to sign Johan Santana. In his last two starts, Santana has given up 22 hits in 16+ innings. He’s throwing in the lower 90′s for the most part, and of course is giving up a  ton of homeruns. Maybe the Twins were right or maybe Santana is starting slow like he has his entire career.
• Breakup the Chicago White Sox who have won 8 games in a row. They are clicking in all areas, getting a great season from Carlos Quentin and getting a recent surge by Jermaine Dye. The Sox probably don’t have enough pitching to sustain long-term, but their offense is talented. Gavin Floyd and John Danks have been nice surprises. If they can continue to pitch well (I see a decline in results) then the Sox will be in contention all season.

That’s it for today. Have a great Memorial Day Weekend. We’ll see you back here on Tuesday. Enjoy the holiday and thanks to all the men and women who fought to give and protect our freedoms.

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