Ron Villone was with the Yankees when Phil Hughes and Joba Chamberlain first came up to The Bronx and has kept an eye on both of his former teammates over the past two years as their roles — and performances — have reversed.
And he thinks it’s far too early to make a call on either one’s career.
“Phil is showing that he’s more than capable of doing the job he’s doing now out of the pen,” said Villone, now with the Nationals. “And Joba, he’s still figuring it out.”
Chamberlain showed signs of snapping out of his late-season funk with six innings of three-run ball against the Red Sox on Sept. 25, but then regressed with 3 2/3 rough innings, allowing three earned runs, against the Royals on Wednesday night.
Still, Villone was reluctant to rush to judgment.
“They’re two different kinds of pitchers,” said Villone, who like both Chamberlain and Hughes, has spent time as a starter and a reliever. “The biggest thing, though, is that they’re still both so young. If they were in a different organization, they might be doing something completely different.”
For now, however, Hughes has become a reliable eighth-inning option, while Chamberlain, thanks in part to the Yankees inconsistency in handling him, has regressed as the season has gone on.
“Sometimes it takes awhile to find out what you’re made of and sometimes going to the bullpen helps bring it out since you have to be ready every day,” Villone said of Hughes. “He’s battled through injuries and maybe the timing’s right and the bullpen is the right place for him to be right now. I don’t know about the future, but in September and October he’s going to have to be ready every day and I think he will be.”
He can see the right-hander as a possible replacement for Mariano Rivera — a spot initially thought to be targeted for Chamberlain.
“Who knows when Mariano will be done and you’ll need somebody, but Phil is showing that he’s more than capable of doing the job and possibly he could fill those shoes.”
And like nearly everyone else, he’s not sure what to make of Chamberlain’s struggles.
“The scheduling is the hardest part, when you’ve been a reliever and you’re trying to become a starter,” Villone said. “It’s not that it’s that tough an adjustment, but there is a learning curve and I think that’s what he’s going through now. I think they’re both probably capable of doing either job.”