TAMPA – Mariano Rivera will eventually be correct, but on the first day of pitchers and catchers working out at Legends Field, Joe Girardi wasn’t ready to announce that Joba Chamberlain will open the season as Rivera’s set-up man – even after Rivera told reporters that the Yankees’ bullpen will be OK because it will have Chamberlain in it.
Rivera, who will throw with Phil Hughes in group two today, spoke highly of the bullpen with the belief that Chamberlain will stay in the role he performed so well in a year ago.
“I understand we will have Joba in the pen, so our bullpen will be solid,” said Rivera, who is also encouraged by the Yankees’ adding veteran righty LaTroy Hawkins.
Though the Yankees plan to use Chamberlain as a reliever at the beginning of the season and possibly shift him to the rotation later, Girardi refused to announce Chamberlain will set up Rivera at the start.
“Joba is competing for a spot in the starting rotation right now,” Girardi said of the 22-year-old right-hander who went 2-0 with a 0.38 ERA and fanned 34 in 24 innings in relief last season. “We are preparing him as a starter. We will look at the pitching staff as a whole and decide what the best fit is. We will look at it at the end of March and see where we are.”
Because Andy Pettitte missed yesterday’s session, Chamberlain threw with starters Mike Mussina, Chien-Ming Wang and Ian Kennedy for eight minutes.
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Jorge Posada is in Roger Clemens’ corner. “I support him and it doesn’t take anything away from what he did,” Posada said. Asked if Clemens’ strong denials of steroid and human growth hormone use were believable, Posada said: “Yes. He keeps going forward. It’s tough to see what he is going through.”
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Hideki Matsui looked like a hitter who was swinging a bat for the first time since last October yesterday when he took batting practice against coach Tony Pena. Matsui is recovering from arthroscopic knee surgery in November. He took fly balls and ground balls and ran a little bit in the outfield.