While the Yankees have hinted that Joba Chamberlain and Phil Hughes will be back in the starting rotation next year, nothing is certain.
And Chamberlain remains fine with that.
“It’s a great problem to have for Phil and myself,” Chamberlain said yesterday. “We’ve been in situations and there’s a lot of things we can be. I think it’s an advantage for our team that there are so many different options to make us better for 2010.”
The question, however, is whether the past year made Chamberlain better, since it seems the Yankees did their best to confuse the right-hander — from making him a starter to instituting minuscule pitch counts to finally having him come out of the bullpen again in the postseason.
Chamberlain, though, thinks he’s better for it, despite the mixed results.
“If it does anything, it helps me,” Chamberlain said of the various roles he has played in his brief career. “I’ve been put in a lot of situations and it’s gonna help me in the long run.”
The 23-year-old said his arm felt “awesome” and that he was going to start working out again on Monday, already preparing to defend the Yankees’ World Series title. He’s looking for more consistency from himself.
“I’ve had moments when I’ve been really good and moments when I’ve been really bad,” said Chamberlain, who was at Madison Square Garden at a New Yorkers for Children benefit for foster children. His father, Harlan, spent part of his childhood in foster care.
“I’ve been in every situation you can be in the big leagues,” Chamberlain said. “I’ve been a starter all my life and it’s the reason I got here. With exceptions here and there, I thought it was a good year for me.”
Regardless of where Chamberlain is next season, he’d like Andy Pettitte to be around.
When asked how important it would be to get Pettitte back, a year after Pettitte considered retirement, Chamberlain said: “Huge. It’s the way he prepares himself. He’s so much bigger than what he does on the field.”
Pettitte did plenty, clinching all three postseason series, and Chamberlain said he talked to his teammate last week and would try to convince him to return.